The Islamic State threatens to shift its focus to Israel

The Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group on Monday threatened to shift its focus from the remnants of its “caliphate” towards Israel, AFP reports.

In a purported audio message by ISIS spokesman Abu Hamza al-Quraishi, the jihadist organization called for sabotaging the peace plan that US President Donald Trump is due to unveil on Tuesday.

The spokesman said ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi encourages the group’s fighters to launch “a new phase” and vowed major operations against Israel.

“The eyes of the soldiers of the caliphate, wherever they are, are still on Jerusalem,” the spokesman said in the 37-minute message.

“And in the coming days, God willing, you will see what harms you and what will make you forget the horrors you have seen,” Abu Hamza al-Quraishi said, apparently threatening attacks of unprecedented scope.

The spokesman said ISIS leader Quraishi was “determined, and has encouraged his mujahideen brothers in all provinces, and Muslims across the world,” to launch “a new phase”.

That new focus “is fighting the Jews and reclaiming what they have stolen from the Muslims, and this cannot be reclaimed except through fighting,” he said.

AFP could not immediately authenticate the message but the recording was published via the group’s usual social media channels.

Quraishi was named the new leader of ISIS this past November, five days after the group’s former leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was eliminated during an American commando raid on his compound in northern Syria.

The Guardian newspaper reported last week that Quraishi is, in fact, Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi, one of the terror group’s founding members.

This is not the first time that ISIS has threatened Israel and Jews. In 2015, Baghdadi warned that his jihadists were preparing to attack the Jewish state.

Source: INN