Israel Matzav

Global jihad group debuts in Gaza

'Palestinians' in the Gaza Strip have a new team and spanking new uniforms in the 'Palestinian League of Terrorists.' WorldNetDaily is reporting that a new Palestinian terror group aligned with the ideology of al-Qaida has been formed in the Gaza Strip and may plan attacks not just against Israel but also aimed at other "enemies of Islam and their collaborators among Arab regimes." WorldNetDaily conducted an exclusive interview with the terror group's leader.

"For the moment, our attacks are concentrated against the occupation, but I am sure that there will come a day where the Jihad operations will reach all the enemies of Islam and their collaborators among Arab regimes. The U.S. seems to do everything in order to speed this evolution," said Abu Mohammed, leader of the Palestine Army of Islam.

The Army of Islam is a splinter of the Popular Resistance Committees, a coalition of terror organizations operating in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The Army bills itself as the closest Palestinian organization ideologically to al-Qaida. It left the Committees earlier this year complaining the group was not "Muslim enough."

The Army of Islam is one of three terror groups that claimed responsibility for the kidnapping in June of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, prompting an Israeli ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. It is led by Gaza's Dugmash clan, a family of strongmen that head several terror cells in Gaza, including the "Saladin resistance department" of the Popular Resistance Committees.

In his first-ever interview, Abu Muhammad, a senior member of the Dugmash clan, explained to WorldNetDaily why his group is different from other major Palestinian "resistance organizations."

"We believe that Muslims should participate in the jihad no matter how far the jihad field is from a geographic point of view," he said. "We are not limiting ourselves to the jihad in Palestine as the other Palestinian groups do, and we see that our duty obliges us to help Muslims and to participate in the jihad everywhere it is needed.

"For the moment, we are restricting ourselves to Palestine not because of ideological or strategic reasons, but just because Palestine is today the most important field of jihad in the world. If the situation changes, we easily see ourselves as soldiers in Afghanistan, Iraq or elsewhere," said Abu Muhammad.

The terror leader warned attacks against U.S. interests may come soon.

Read the whole thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:13 PM