A network of Salafist militant groups inspired by global jihad is striking roots in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas, which officially rules the coastal enclave, is yet to make a strategic decision to stop the phenomena, a senior Israeli official said Wednesday.

"We hope that Hamas will be more determined to deal with this threat. So far, Hamas's attitude has shown a double standard: they say that they are taking steps on the ground, but the results are very poor," Yossi Kuperwasser, director-general of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, told reporters in Jerusalem.

The remarks came days after Israeli aircraft targeted Hisham Saedni, one of four militants killed in cross-border violence that flared up last week.

Saedni headed the Shora Council of the Mujahideen, a group ideologically linked to al-Qaida, and reportedly trained in Iraq at the outset of the U.S. military's invasion in 2003.

The Israeli military said he and his men were involved in firing rockets into southern Israel and planting explosive devices, one of which killed an Israeli soldier and critically wounded another in January 2009, and were set to launch an attack on the Israel-Egypt border.

Prior to his death, the top militant was detained by Hamas on several occasions and released time and again, according to Kuperwasser.

This revolving door policy, he said, reflects Hamas's assessment of just how strong Salafist jihadism had grown in Gaza in recent years.

On Aug. 14, 2009, the group's spiritual leader Sheikh Abdel Latif Moussa announced during a Friday sermon the establishment of an Islamic emirate in the Palestinian territories, and slammed Hamas for failing to enforce Sharia law. Hamas forces swiftly responded by surrounding his mosque. A total of 24 people, including Moussa himself, were killed and dozens wounded in the fighting that ensued.

Israeli intelligence estimates that the Salafists currently number several dozen operatives in Gaza.

"They (Hamas) are not very bent on confronting them," said Kuperwasser. "It is not just a matter of capability, but of will. It may also be possible that Hamas's leadership is not sure whether its members will comply to an order (to root out the Salafists) in the event that they reach a decision to do it."

Kuperwasser, who previously served in top positions in Israel's military intelligence, attributed the group's ability to challenge Hama to the growing lawlessness in the Sinai Peninsula, where a gamut of militant factions identified with global jihad have set foot since the ouster of former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak early last year.

The Sinai-based militants provide a steady flow of arms to their Gaza colleagues, while financial support is received from organizations and individuals located abroad who identify with the Salafist structure, he said.

In yet another sign of the deterioration along the Gaza border, local media outlets on Tuesday disclosed that militants last week targeted an Israeli aircraft with a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile, possibly a Russian-made Strela that originally belonged to the Libyan military prior to Muammar Gaddafi's demise.

It was the first time Palestinians are known to have employed such a weapon, though the identity of the group that fired it is still unknown.

"What we see in Gaza, in a broader context, is similar to what is happening in the Middle East: radical Islamic groups competing with each other for influence," said Kuperwasser.

"In Gaza's case, we have a hostile element (Hamas) being challenged by a more hostile element, and has difficulty wielding its power in an area in which it is supposed to be the sovereign."

It remains unclear whether Hamas will succeed in stemming the tide of hard-core Islam sweeping Gaza, he said, adding that a growing number of youths are being lured to join the ranks of the Salafists.

"They are exposed to terrible indoctrination and incitement. This atmosphere drives people to the radical end, which is why it is easy for the Salafists and others to recruit people," Kuperwasser said.

While some senior Israeli defense officials have said that a large-scale military operation to suppress Gaza rocket fire may be inevitable, Kuperwasser said that would only be a short-term solution.

"There has to be something profound," he said. "We see the indoctrination as key."