ISIS chief al-Baghdadi warns of imminent attacks against Israel

As ISIS continues its unrelenting march westward and commits numerous human-rights atrocities along the way, the terror group again reminded Israel that it too is a target.

By: AP and World Israel News Staff

Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has directly threatened Israel in a new audio message, saying the terror organization was planning to attack the Jewish State.

In the 24-minute audio released by ISIS on Saturday, al-Baghdadi lashes out at his enemies threatening action against them, and says that his self-styled “caliphate” is doing well despite an unprecedented alliance against it, and criticizing the recently announced Saudi-led Islamic military coalition against terrorism.

He threatened Israel by saying, “we haven’t forgotten you” and “we are getting closer to you” every day.

“God caused the Jews of the world to gather in Israel, and the war against them has become easy. It is the obligation of every Muslim to carry out Jihad,” he declared.

“Jews, you will not enjoy in Palestine. God has gathered you in Palestine so that the Mujahadeen [holy warriors] can reach you soon and you will hide by the rock and the tree. Palestine will be your graveyard,” he said.

Al-Baghdadi said airstrikes by the international coalition only increase his group’s determination and resolve. The message was al-Baghdadi’s first since May, and comes amid battlefield setbacks that ISIS has recently faced in Syria and Iraq.

“It is unprecedented in the history of our Ummah (Islamic nation) that all the world came against it in one battle, as it is happening today. It is the battle of all the disbelievers against all the Muslims,” al-Baghdadi said.

He said the US-led alliance does “not scare us… nor do they scatter our resolve because we are the victors in any event.”

Al-Baghdadi also taunted the United States for not putting boots on the ground. “They do not dare to come, because their hearts are full of fear from the mujahideen,” he said.

“America and its allies dream of destroying the caliphate through their proxies and henchmen, and whenever an alliance of theirs fails or a tail is cut, they hasten to establish another, until they recently declared the Salouli (Saudi) alliance that was falsely called Islamic,” al-Baghdadi added.

If the Saudi-led alliance was truly Islamic, then it would fight the Syrian army and its Russian “masters,” as well as Shiites and Jews, al-Baghdadi said.

In mid-December, Saudi Arabia announced its new 34-member alliance against terrorism will be based in the kingdom’s capital, Riyadh. But Shiite powerhouse Iran is not part of the new coalition; neither are Iraq and Syria, whose forces are battling to regain ground from the Islamic State group and whose governments are allied with Tehran.

In the audio, al-Baghdadi also warned nations taking part in the war against ISIS by saying: “We promise you, God permitting, that whoever participates in the war against the Islamic State will pay the price dearly.”

He also urged Muslims world over to join the ISIS fight, saying it is their Islamic duty to rise up everywhere.

The authenticity of the audio could not be independently confirmed, but it was posted on ISIS-affiliated websites and Twitter as past ISIS messages. Also, it was produced by the al-Furqan Media Foundation, ISIS’ media arm.