TEL AVIV – A jihadist whose group claims to represent ISIS in the Gaza Strip called WND to claim responsibility for firing rockets Wednesday toward the Israeli port city of Ashkelon.
The phone call to WND came within two minutes of Israel’s Code Red sirens being sounded in the Israeli towns of Netivot, Sdot Negev, Hof Ashkelon and Ashkelon.
The sirens were recorded going off at 11 and 11:01 p.m. local time. The jihadist’s call with a claim of responsibility came at 11:03 p.m.
A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces told WND the IDF tracked two rockets being fired from Gaza.
Residents in the vicinity of Ashkelon reported hearing explosions in the distance.
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Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported Israeli official said the defense establishment believes the attack was carried out by Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad militants as part of an internal feud. However, Islamic Jihad denied responsibility.
Israel has been reluctant to discuss the reported presence of ISIS supporters in Gaza.
The jihadist who contacted WND is a senior member of Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, which represents ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula and now claims a foothold in Gaza. The Gaza branch calls itself the Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade.
Tuesday, the same jihadist sent WND a video they say proves they launched a rocket from the Gaza Strip that hit central Israel last week.
The jihadist also told WND that if Hamas does not cease its crackdown on ISIS supporters in Gaza, the backers of the movement that has taken over half of Syria and one-third of Iraq will violate a truce with Israel and carry out more rocket attacks against the Jewish state.
The Hadid Brigade of Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, the group that produced the video provided to WND, also released a statement claiming responsibility for assassinating a senior Hamas commander in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, leading to a major Hamas crackdown on ISIS supporters in Gaza.
Ansar Bait al-Maqdis released a list of demands to Hamas:
- The release from Hamas jails of all ISIS-allied “mujahideen, preachers, students, detainees and abductees.”
- An end to what the group claims is Hamas’ “media incitement” and “war of lies and distortions” against ISIS supporters.
- Granting to the Salafist Islamists their “legitimate rights,” including the right to bear arms and carry out advocacy and social and relief work to the Palestinian people.