A high-placed Israeli military source said: “One would imagine the Taliban in Palestinian form had landed on our southwestern doorstep - the same sort of weapons, methods of operation and hot-eyed fervor.”

But Israeli policy-makers refuse to admit a new peril is closing in from the Palestinian territory at war with the Jewish state. An Israeli military officer conversant with the new development sees the Gaza Strip descending further into fundamentalist Islamization. He says: “If until now Hamas and JihadJihad IslamiIslami were the barriers to the return of Palestinian Authority rule evicted from the Gaza Strip last June, now they are bolstered and being further radicalized by al Qaeda’s ideology, propaganda, funds and arms, which are streaming unimpeded to the Palestinian territory.

These violent elements are further boosted by Al Qaeda jihadists, most Palestinian, who are escaping SuezSuez CanalCanal towns in flight from Egyptian security forces. They are finding sanctuary in Gaza.