Al-Qaida threatens Israel: Jews not protected from attacks

"Army of Islam" group linked to global terror organization releases statement in Hebrew for first time; threatens to avenge the killing of two senior members in Gaza.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Rocket carried by terrorist 311 (photo credit: Associated Press)
Rocket carried by terrorist 311
(photo credit: Associated Press)
"Army of Islam," a group linked to Al Qaida, released Thursday for the first time a statement in Hebrew threatening to avenge the killing of two senior members of the organization in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
In a half-minute long statement that was broadcast on a website associated with the organization, a voice was heard saying that the "Jewish aggressors" would not be protected from missile attacks and other threats until they withdraw from "Palestinian land." The speaker identified himself as a member of Ansar al Sunna which has a presence in Gaza.
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Islam Yassin, 35, from Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip was killed in an Israeli air strike along with his brother Muhammad in Gaza on Wednesday after Israeli forces targeted members of the al-Qaida-linked group.
Matti Steinberg, a former Israeli intelligence official specializing in Islam, told Channel 10 that use of Hebrew in an al-Qaida statement is very unusual.
"It seems that the idea behind this is to make Jews feel that the threat is more imminent now, and not a distant warning," he said.
Steinberg said members of al-Qaida generally use languages other than Arabic in their statements in order to "preach" Islam.