In a never-ending cycle, Hamas is catching and releasing Islamic State operatives in the Gaza Strip who fire rockets at Israel, Palestinian sources say.

Just two weeks after being let out of prison, some IS terrorists were already back to their old habits, shooting Kassams at Israel’s southern communities. Mahmoud Talb, Muhammad Baras and Ahmad Musallam, all known supporters of the Islamic State and global jihad movement in the Gaza Strip, were among those released by Hamas only to later take part in attacks.

Talb has been arrested by Hamas, the ruling party in the Gaza Strip, more than ten times for his actions, according to Palestinian sources.

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This only continues Hamas’s unspoken and contradictory policy towards the Islamic State and the global jihadi movement. On one hand, Hamas must work against these operatives and prevent their actions, while on the other hand, they often work side-by-side and even assist one another.

For instance, high-ranking members of Hamas’s military wing make a point of bringing injured IS fighters from Sinai into the Gaza Strip for medical treatment. Meanwhile, the Islamic State in Egypt helps Hamas smuggle weaponry and vast sums of money into the Strip.

The commander of IS forces in the Sinai met with Hamas leaders in Gaza during what was intended to be a secret trip last week, in order to widen their cooperation and coordinate attacks on Egyptian and Israeli targets, Israeli television reported Thursday.

Shadi al-Menei has also been responsible for occasional incidences of rocket fire from the Sinai on the Israeli southern resort town of Eilat, the TV report said.

The deepening cooperation between Hamas and al-Menei’s Islamic State hierarchy is infuriating to Egypt and “worrying for Israel,” the report added. It said that al-Menei was behind a 2011 terrorist attack in southern Israel in which four groups of terrorists targeted a bus and several Israeli army vehicles, killing six Israeli civilians, two members of the Israeli security forces and several Egyptian soldiers. Ten terrorists were killed.