On October 13, 2023, Al-Sahab, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda General Command, released a three-page statement celebrating the Hamas October 7 attack as a “blessed battle” that has changed the course of jihad and the “rules of combat.” Israel’s “encroachment” on Al-Aqsa, it said, makes it certain that “the coming flood of Islamic heroes will make the Zionists and the Crusaders forget the horrors” of 9/11. It incited attacks in countries that have normalized relations with Israel and called on jihadis to target US bases, airports, and embassies in the Islamic world. It added that “the heroes of Islam” must “shake the ground beneath the American bases, airports, and embassies in our Islamic region” and “target the Crusader battleships” in Muslim seas that are bringing support for Israel”, reports MEMRI.
The statement, titled “Verily, Allah’s Succor Is Always Near”, opens by celebrating the Hamas attack and the days that followed as “some of the grandest and most glorious days” in modern times. Claiming that “the “fortresses and fortifications of the Zionists and the Crusaders crumbled before the armies of faith”, it added that the descendants of the Companions of the Prophet had bravely fought “the assaulting Jews”.
It went on to praise Hamas’s “outstanding” planning and execution of its attack, on all security, intelligence, and tactical levels, saying that it would “undoubtedly be considered the jewel of all battles of Islam in the contemporary history of our nation”.
According to Al Qaeda in the statement, Israel’s recurring “encroachment” on Al-Aqsa Mosque has made it “very confident” that “the coming flood of Islamic heroes will make the Zionists and the Crusaders forget the horrors of [the] September [11 attacks], and will make the previous raids look like a small party compared with Islam’s coming invasions”.
The Hamas offensive, it said, exposed the “fragility” of the capabilities and technology of Israel and its Western allies. It added that Al-Qaeda and all mujahideen worldwide stand alongside the mujahedeen in Palestine, in the same trench, and that that Palestinian factions must unite their efforts and strengthen their association with the people “so that the enemy does not single out any faction for targeting separately”.
It continued: “We hold to our covenant to you, and bear witness to Allah Almighty that we will not let you down as long as there is a pulse in our veins, until we achieve either victory or martyrdom”.
The Islamic nation, said the statement, has seen the “fragility of the superpowers, led by America and its protégé Israel,” and noted that what Muslims see today on live television is one of the many facets of the “strategic failure” of Israel and its allies on all intelligence, military, security, and economic levels.
It added that the world will witness the Hamas attack’s “extremely damaging repercussions” for Israel’s “social structure”, and disastrous outcomes for it and its allies on all fronts.
Moving on to praise the attack’s outcome as a “major shift in the path of global jihad” and a “radical change in the rules of fighting,” in the statement Al-Qaeda called on Muslims everywhere to join the battle that is “the most important Islamic step towards the liberation of all of Palestine,” saying: “We call on them to mobilize and wage jihad with all they can, and we urge them to interact positively with this Islamic flood, and to engage in the boycott of everything Western and Jewish… We also call on our generous nation to provide material and moral support to our people and heroes in Palestine, to target everything that is Crusader, Zionist, and Israeli in an open war, and to bear the cost of the enemy’s response together with our people in Palestine”.
The statement directed a “special call” to people in Sinai, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon to respond to the calls of the leaders of jihad and break through the borders to unite with the Palestinians and participate in the liberation of Al-Aqsa Mosque. It also warned that betraying Gaza will have dire consequences for the entire Islamic world.
The Hamas attack, said the statement, had “ensnared the Israeli army in the mire of the Gaza Strip, and destroyed together with [this army] all agreements of surrender and treachery, past and present”, especially the ones “preached by the Zionist” Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman. It went on to incite attacks across the region, urging the Muslims to draw inspiration from the actions of the mujahideen and to become “the flame that targets the Zionists in the streets of Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the Emirates, Marrakesh and Rabat in Morocco, Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, and Manama in Bahrain”.
Also, in the statement, Al-Qaeda exhorted members of the militaries of Islamic countries to carry out attacks, and praised the October 8 attack in Alexandria, where an Egyptian policeman killed two Israeli tourists. It said: “We call on those affiliated with these worn-out armies to repent to their Lord and to atone for their sins by carrying out heroic actions like this”.
Condemning the West’s support for Israel, including in weapons, personnel, funds, and intelligence, Al-Qaeda stressed in the statement that the Muslims must unite against the camp of “global unbelief” and answer the call for jihad in Palestine and elsewhere. It said:
“Now that the mujahideen of Palestine have mobilized the entire nation to participate in their blessed jihad, there is no excuse for anyone to claim that the battle is only within Palestinian itself… Let this jihad be expanded against the aggressor Jews and their allies in every arena, in every sea, and in every sky”.
It added that jihad is a religious duty incumbent upon all Muslims, hailed the Hamas attack as a “holy war” that declared that the door was open for all Muslim youth, and that after today, no one has any excuse not to become involved.
It stated: “The [Islamic] nation must provide everything in its power, and make generous sacrifices, to champion the faith and defend the sanctities with everything precious – lives, money, and children – and by all available means. This is an obligation incumbent upon rulers and commoners, rich and poor, men and women, Arabs and non-Arabs”.
Inciting attacks on Israel’s Western allies, in the statement Al-Qaeda called on the “the heroes of Islam” to target those who are supporting Israel, stating:
“Shake the ground beneath the American bases, airports and embassies in our Islamic region – it is from [America’s] warehouses that ammunition estimated in the billions of dollars will be dispatched to Israel to land on the chests and heads of our people in Palestine…Target the Crusader battleships that sail in the seas of Muslims arrogantly. Let our mujahideen in the Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, the Maghreb of Islam, the Indian Subcontinent, and the Levant make every effort to foil this support, for this is your chosen day to stand by your brothers”.
The statement concluded by calling the enemies of Islam “paper tigers,” and saying that jihad is ongoing in the Arabian Peninsula, Syria, and other fronts. Underlining that the “invincible” Israeli army collapsed before the mujahideen besieged in Gaza, it said: “Let all efforts and fronts be united, and let us all strive to liberate Al-Aqsa, because by liberating it, the entire nation will be liberated, God willing, from injustice and tyranny”.
