Al-Qaeda joins Hamas in the jihad against Israel

It turns out that a Gaza based al-Qaeda affiliated group known as Jaysh al-Ummah has joined Hamas in the jihad against Israel. On December 8, Jaysh al-Ummah published a statement saying that its fighters had been clashing with the IDF in the north of the Gaza Strip and in Sheikh Radwan in Gaza City:

https://twitter.com/Asr23267077/status/1787072153407418664

 

It’s unclear how large this al-Qaeda affiliated group is, and whether it has formed a formal alliance with Hamas. It is most likely a small branch that was operating covertly in Gaza for a long time, but has recently decided to conduct operations more overtly, because the IDF’s military operations in Gaza have given al-Qaeda the opportunity to wage jihad against Israel and assure Muslims that al-Qaeda will not neglect its duty to wage jihad against the Jewish state.

Even if there is no actual formal alliance between al-Qaeda and Hamas, al-Qaeda has clearly been assisting Hamas by virtue of attacking IDF troops in Gaza. This benefits Hamas, because it forces the IDF to divide its attention on multiple different jihad groups, as well as buying time for Hamas.

This would not be the first time that al-Qaeda has tried to attack Israel, but as of this writing, it appears to be the most recent example of al-Qaeda doing so. This should have gotten more media coverage, because it shows that even though twenty-two years have passed since September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda is not only still active, but is participating in the Israel vs. Hamas war, and is one of the many jihad groups that are assisting Hamas.

Many might think al-Qaeda is a washed-up group that has become a spent force, because al-Qaeda doesn’t get anywhere near as much attention and media coverage as it did 20 years ago. Hamas and Hezbollah have been getting most of the media coverage and focus since October 7, but media coverage of a jihad group is not a reliable indication of its strength and activity.

A side note: I’ve noticed that some commentators are skeptical of Jaysh al-Ummah being an al-Qaeda affiliated group, so I’ll provide some evidence, starting by citing a 2019 interview that Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi had with Jaysh al-Ummah:

[Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi]: 5. Are most of the Salafi jihadis in Gaza with the Dawla group [Islamic State] or the al-Qa’ida organization?

[Jaysh al-Ummah representative]: First the name ‘Salafi jihadi’ has been stolen by the Khawarij and the media have helped in that. And regrettable most of those groups in Gaza do not agree with us on the purity of the banner of the Qa’idat al-Jihad organization in the world and the deviation of the banner of the Dawla organization in the world, but rather they think the contrary, to the point that some of them have declared takfir on the Imam Sheikh Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri (may God protect him), and there is no force or power except in God the High, the Almighty.”

There are two things to take note of from this.

Firstly, notice how this Jaysh al-Ummah representative is clearly an al-Qaeda supporter; he refer to the late al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri as “imam” and “shaykh,” which is something that is very often found in the rhetoric of al-Qaeda supporters, but something that is not typically found outside of al-Qaeda circles. Zawahiri doesn’t have any formal Islamic training, he was a surgeon and a professor of pharmacy. This isn’t to say that he lacked any Islamic knowledge, but the titles imam and shaykh are usually reserved for Muslims who have formal Islamic training. There are exceptions to this rule, with al-Qaeda supporters referring to al-Qaeda leaders including Osama bin Laden and al-Zawahiri as imams and shaykhs.

Secondly, notice how he implicitly says that Jaysh al-Ummah fights under the banner of al-Qaeda by saying that “most of those groups in Gaza do not agree with us on the purity of the Qa’idat al-Jihad organisation of the world,” which clearly tells us what Jaysh al-Ummah is affiliated with al-Qaeda by virtue of specifically fighting under the banner of al-Qaeda while criticizing other jihadist groups, such as Hamas and ISIS.

What also reinforces the fact that Jaysh al-Ummah is an al-Qaeda affiliated group is the additional fact that al-Qaeda’s own media outlets have released articles authored by Jaysh al-Ummah:

Thabat, a media organization associated with al-Qaeda, has released multiple articles authored by Jaysh al-Ummah, implying that this group could represent or be affiliated with al-Qaeda in Gaza. Jaysh al-Ummah, while not as active as other movements in Gaza like Hamas, does have an online presence and has even taken responsibility for an attack on Israel in 2019.

This clearly indicates that al-Qaeda is not only officially aware of the existence of Jaysh al-Ummah, but has implicitly accepted it as an al-Qaeda branch or affiliate, by allowing Jaysh al-Ummah to write not just one article, but multiple articles on al-Qaeda’s media outlet, Thabat.

So we have sufficient evidence of Jaysh al-Ummah being an al-Qaeda affiliated group; all that one needs to do is make inferences and read between the lines.

Al-Qaeda is still around; it never disappeared.