As Islamic State (ISIL) fighters move towards Gaza territory, fellow Islamist group Hamas is attempting to distance itself by marketing itself as a moderate alternative.

Last week, Islamic State fighters in Syria released a video labelling Hamas as an “enemy”.

It is their latest attempt to cause unrest in Gaza, secure supporters and provoke the government into another confrontation with Israel.

• UN blames Israel for ‘deplorable’ school attacks
• The story behind the photo that broke hearts

The West sees Hamas as a radical Islamic group, intent on Israel’s destruction, accused of war crimes and responsible for numerous terrorists attacks on Israeli civilians, but for ISIL they are nowhere near radical enough.

They see Hamas as infidels because they have not implemented sharia law in Gaza and they have agreed to a ceasefire with Israel.

Last month, Hamas shot dead an alleged ISIL leader at his apartment in Gaza City.

Outraged ISIL supporters responded by trying to ruin the Hamas ceasefire, firing off several rockets towards Israel.

Confronting Israel

Dr Mkhaimar Abusada, a Professor of politics at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, has been following the presence of radical ISIL supporters in the strip, known as salafists.

There is no threat of Hamas slowing down. Photo: ABC/Sophie McNeill

“Hamas is having its own war against the salafists in the Gaza strip who are trying to destabilise security in the Gaza strip and or try to provoke Israel into another confrontation,” Dr Abusada said.

“Hamas is trying to downplay the danger of these groups here in the Gaza strip.

“But in my opinion, whether salafists are in Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Sinai, Libya or any other place, they belong to the same ideology which is extreme or radical interpretations of Islam.”

In January this year, more than 100 Gazans gathered outside the French cultural centre in Gaza to protest against the Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.

Waving black ISIL flags, they chanted in favour of self-declared caliphate leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Under Hamas, there are many restrictions on freedoms in Gaza, but it is no Mosul – the headquarters of ISIL – where even smoking is banned and all women have to be covered from head to toe.

Hamas sees the emergence of ISIL in the region as an opportunity to position itself as a moderate Islamist alternative.

“I think now is the time to understand that Hamas is not a radical group,” Hamas spokesperson Ghazi Hamad said.

“Hamas is not extremists. Now they say ‘what is the alternative?’ It’s like some radical groups like Al Qaeda, like Daesh. They try to spread like bloodshed everywhere and hatred everywhere.”

Not buying it

But Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Peter Lerner said Israel was not buying it.

“Their charter says that if you see a Jew hiding behind a tree you have to kill him,” he said.

The Israeli Defence Force has been battling for survival of the tiny nation since its first days. Photo: Getty

“So, frankly there really is no difference between Hamas and ISIS in that respect. They both see Israel as something that should cease to exist.

“For the military, from our perspective, we need to be prepared for that day, whether it’s ISIS or Hamas.

“So clearly they are not a good neighbour. It doesn’t mean necessarily that ISIS will be a better neighbour but this is the reality we face.”

For Gazans – many who are sick of living under Hamas rule – the rise of another radical Islamist group is the last thing they need.

“We don’t want them. Make them get out of here. We don’t want them. We have enough problems of our own,” one local woman said.

“ISIS, we need to finish these people. Nothing else. Because what they are doing to people is un-Islamic. Very un-Islamic,” another local man said.

But in a place like Gaza, with little work, high rates of poverty and a surplus of bored young men, it is easy to see how extremism finds a home.

-ABC