Fringe pro-IS Gaza group blasts Hamas for being 'infidels'

A Gaza based militant outfit inspired by the Islamic State group has accused Hamas, which runs the beseiged territory, of being "infidels".

Fringe militant group Jaish al-Islam released a 28 minute video on messaging platform Telegram, accusing Islamist movement Hamas of being apostates.

The group accused Hamas of "selling out" Islam by being too "Western" and deviating from the religion, according to the footage found and shared by a number of pro-Israeli media outlets.

The video had also offered tips on training for suicide attacks, according to a report by the pro-Israel MEMRI shared exclusively with Jewish News Network.

Hamas, an Islamist group based in Gaza, has both a political and military wing, and is known for its links to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Read also: Hamas faces threat of Salafist jihadists once more

Despite Israeli officials notoriously comparing Hamas to the Islamic State group, the rivalry between the two groups runs deep.

In January, Jaish al-Islam released a video also accusing Hamas of being deviators of Islam.

"The apostate Hamas gang group has taken advantage of the grand place of Al-Aqsa mosque, which God has placed in the hearts of Muslims to accomplish political gains," they said in January.

"Even if the blood of Muslims was a price for those worldly gains," said the video’s unknown narrator, referring to Islam's third-holiest site, which is in Jerusalem."

"Their struggle changed from jihad to dismiss the Zionists in the land of Muslims to a struggle for the control of Gaza," they said in the video which was also circulated on their Telegram.