It may not have any ships, sailors or seafaring equipment, but those logistical details have not prevented Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip, from launching a naval defence force.

“The requirements to join are that you have to be a good soldier, be fit, and know how to swim,” said the coastal patrol’s only confirmed member and commander, Jamil al-Dahashan, a veteran of the armed wing of Hamas.

The new force is expected to take to the waves — or at least the beaches — in a couple of weeks, where it will battle against prostitution and drug abuse. Eventually, when it has a boat, the navy will venture out to sea, where one of its main tasks will be to intercept Gazan fishermen who moonlight as informants for the Israelis.

Since Hamas launched a short but savage war against the Western-backed Fatah security forces in Gaza in June, seizing total power in the densely populated coastal strip, it has set about reforming its underground guerrilla organisation into a proper army and police force, modelled along the lines of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Blockade drains life from Gaza

The movement of goods into Gaza had been intermittent at best since Hamas won Palestinian elections early last year

BACKGROUND

• Israel continues Gaza blitz as 310 dead

• Q&A: Hamas and Gaza

• 97 days and counting for BBC's man in Gaza

• Now war is with the enemy within

• The little girl trapped by a quirk of war

Hamas’s control of the land border has made it more difficult for Palestinian collaborators, recruited by Israel, to pass on their information from Gaza. Hamas believes that the sea has become an important conduit for spies.

The new coastguard, the Dahra, will form part of the uniformed Executive Force, with law enforcement — and catching drug smugglers in particular –— as its priority. Any coastal assaults by Israel would be handled by the armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, although during an invasion all available armed men would be called upon to fight.

As Israel and the international community rush to support the Fatah-led Government in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip has become increasingly isolated, its economy on the verge of total collapse due to its strict isolation.

The UN yesterday cautioned that economic implosion was imminent. “Gaza risks becoming a virtually 100 per cent aid dependent, closed down and isolated community within a matter of months or weeks, if the present regime of closure continues,” Filippo Grandi, deputy head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said. Facing such hardship, Hamas has made an effort to show itself to be a party of law and order in the Gaza Strip.

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