NOVA TIME NEWS!: 11 Αυγ 2013

Κυριακή 11 Αυγούστου 2013

FBI seeking information on Burgas terror suspects

Posted: 08 Aug 2013 12:58 PM PDT

The Federal Bureau of Investigation today announced that it is seeking information on Meliad Farah (a.k.a Hussein Hussein) and Hassan el Hajj Hassan, two suspected Hezbollah operatives wanted in connection with the July 2012 Burgas terror attack that killed five Israelis and one Bulgarian.

"The FBI is assisting the Republic of Bulgaria's Ministry of Interior in its investigation of this bombing," an FBI press release stated. The FBI press release also encouraged anyone with information "concerning either of these suspects ... to contact the FBI or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate."

According to the FBI, both suspects speak English and Arabic. Hassan, who is reportedly related to the unnamed terrorist who died in the attack, was born in Zeghdraya, Saida, Lebanon and is believed to be 176 cm (5'7") tall and weighs 74 kg (163 pounds), according to the FBI.

Although Hassan was born in Lebanon, he moved to Canada at the age of eight. Canadian authorities said the suspect has not been a "habitual resident" of Canada since he was 12.

Farah, who has been previously described as a "bombmaker of Lebanese descent," was born in Sydney, Australia and is believed to be 155 cm (5'1") tall.

Both suspects, the FBI said, should be considered "armed and dangerous."

The FBI's announcement comes two weeks after Bulgarian authorities named Farah and Hassan as suspects wanted in connection with the attack. Subsequent press reports have made a few new claims regarding the suspects, whose names were known to investigators since at least February (likely long before), such as that the suspects received $100,000 in money transfers from Hezbollah and that theysmuggled parts of the bomb on a train from Poland.

In addition, press reports have suggested that Farah left Bulgaria two days before the bombing. A review of flight data reveals that the flight Farah allegedly took from Warsaw landed in Lebanon early on July 17 as previously suggested in a report from LBCI.

Additionally, on July 29 Threat Matrix explored three Facebook accounts, two of which have been used recently, possibly attributable to Meliad Farah. Long War Journal efforts to confirm that the accounts are linked to the wanted Farah have thus far been unsuccessful. A Bulgarian official queried about the accounts today told the Long War Journal that he was not "authorized to make any comments on this still ongoing investigation."

While Bulgarian authorities and the FBI have not said where they believe Hassan and Farah currently reside, reports have previously said that authorities are fairly certain the two suspects returned to southern Lebanon after the attack and remain there. For example, on July 23 the Israeli daily Haaretz reported, based on comments from a senior member of Israel's Foreign Ministry, "the men are hiding in southern Lebanon, and that Israel is searching for them."

Bulgarian officials first charged that Hezbollah was behind the attack on Feb. 5, 2013. "We have followed their [the suspects] entire activities in Australia and Canada so we have information about financing and their membership in Hezbollah. A reasonable assumption can be made that the two of them were members of the militant wing of Hezbollah," Tsvetan Tsvetanov, then Interior Minister, said at the time.

The Burgas attack

On July 18, 2012, the 18th anniversary of the Buenos Aires AMIA bombing, a bomb exploded as Israeli tourists boarded buses at the airport in Burgas, Bulgaria. Five Israelis and one Bulgarian national were killed in the attack, which wounded dozens.

While Bulgaria's Interior Minister said that the bombing was "a deliberate attack," Israeli officials quickly pointed the finger at Iran and Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's soon declared: "I know based on absolutely rock-solid intelligence that this is Hezbollah and this is something that Iran knows about very, very well."

Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaee countered by saying Israel had carried out the attack. "Such [a] terrorist operation could only be planned and carried out by the same regime whose short history is full of state terrorism operations and assassinations aimed at implicating others for narrow political gains," he claimed.

Despite Iranian allegations, American and Israeli officials were soon fairly certain that the attack had been carried out by Hezbollah with direction from Iran. "Israeli intelligence has evidence of many telephone calls between Lebanon and Burgas in the two months before the bombing ... with the volume intensifying in the three days leading up to it," the New York Times reported in early August. The numbers in Lebanon were tied to known Hezbollah operatives.

Yemeni security forces on alert, US drone strikes stepped up

Posted: 08 Aug 2013 12:04 PM PDT

CBS News reports on the latest drone strikes in Yemen, the Yemeni government's assertion that it disrupted a major AQAP plot to "strike foreign embassies, gas and oil installations, and the country's ports," and its assertion that security forces have "a shoot to kill order on anyone who looks suspicious and refuses to identify themselves."

See The Long War Journal's in-depth coverage:

US strikes twice in Yemen, kills 7 AQAP operatives in drone attacks

AQAP's emir also serves as al Qaeda's general manager

US kills 4 AQAP operatives in Yemen drone strike

Local AQAP commander reported killed in recent US drone strike

Suicide bomber kills 21 Pakistani policemen

Posted: 08 Aug 2013 12:55 PM PDT

A suicide bomber killed 30 people, including at least 21 policemen, at a funeral in Pakistan's southern provincial capital of Quetta. Nine of the bodies have yet to be identified, and officials said the death toll may rise. From Dawn:
"So far we can confirm 21 police personnel, including senior police officials, have been killed. Nine other victims are yet to be identified," Inspector General Mushtaq Sukhera told a press conference. "I can confirm 40 people have been injured."

Sukhera confirmed the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. "The death toll may rise because the condition of most of the injured is critical," he said.

According to reports, the suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside the mosque in Quetta's Police Lines area where the funeral procession of station house officer Mohibullah was being held. The bomb went off as senior officers prepared to offer prayers for their colleague.

Four senior police officials are reported to have been killed in the blast:
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Police Operations Fayyaz Sumbal, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Headquarters Shamsuddin and Superintendent Ali Mehr were among the senior police officials killed in the bombing.

Sukhera said among the senior officials killed were one DIG and three DSPs.

Although no group has claimed credit for the attack, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is likely to be the primary suspect. Other suspects would of course include the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and al Qaeda. All of these groups have executed suicide bombings in Quetta in the past.

On June 16, the al Qaeda and Taliban-linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed credit for a suicide bombing and subsequent assault on female Pakistani university students in Quetta. A female suicide bomber carried out one of the attacks; at least 25 people were killed in the bombing on a bus and the blast and assault at a hospital.

The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Taliban, and IMU routinely conduct suicide attacks at mosques, funerals, hospitals, and schools in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant leads charge to take Syrian airport

Posted: 08 Aug 2013 11:38 AM PDT

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, one of al Qaeda's two official affiliates operating in Syria, led a recent decisive rebel assault on a Syrian military airbase in the north. The group used a suicide bomber from "the Arabian Peninsula" to detonate an armored personnel carrier on the base, which was under siege for eight months before falling two days ago. Eight other groups, including the Al Nusrah Front, the Muhajireen Army, and Free Syrian Army units also took part in the joint operation.

The joint jihadist and Free Syrian Army force took control of the Minnigh airbase in Aleppo province on Aug. 6 after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) sent a BMP armored personnel carrier "that hardly moved due to its load of explosives" to strike the building where Syrian soldiers were holding out, according to an ISIL statement. The statement was released on Aug. 7 and was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

"The invasion began with preliminary bombing by the supporting men with artillery shells, mortars and heavy machineguns for three consecutive days," the ISIL said, according to SITE.

The ISIL then sent the BMP suicide bomber, "an emigrant lion from the Peninsula of Muhammad," to strike the Syrian troops. The massive blast was caught on video.

ISIL "storming groups," or assault teams, "entered from three axes towards the center" and overran the base after a day of heavy fighting. Scores of Syrian soldiers and dozens of ISIL and allied fighters are reported to have been killed in the assault.

The ISIL reported that "some brigades that had been stationed at the siege on the airport in the past months," were involved in the attack. The ISIL did not name the supporting units.

"Multiple units affiliated with the Syrian Military Council," a supposedly secular military command backed by the US, were involved in the assault, McClatchy reported. Also involved in the fighting were the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, another al Qaeda other affiliate in Syria, and the Muhajireen Army, an al Qaeda-allied unit made up of foreign fighters and Syrian Islamists.

The "nine brigades" that took part in the assault released a statement announcing the success of the operation, Reuters reported. "The airport has been fully liberated. The remnants of the Assad gangs are now being chased," the statement said.

Free Syrian Army routinely conducts joint operations with al Qaeda

Free Syrian Army units are known to conduct joint attacks and administer areas of Syria with al Qaeda's affiliates in Syria, despite claims from senior FSA leaders that they oppose the Al Nusrah Front and the ISIL.

Currently, in northern Syria, Free Syrian Army units are fighting alongside the the Al Nusrah Front; the ISIL; Ahrar al Sham; the Ahfad al-Rasoul Brigade, which is backed by the government of Qatar; and the Islamic Kurdish Front; to battle Kurdish forces allied with the PKK.

A year ago, in August 2012, the Al Nusrah Front said it launched a joint operation with the Battalion of the Mujahideen of the Companions (Al Sahaba Battalion), a Free Syrian Army unit, against a police station in Jadida Artouz in the countryside of Damascus.

Additionally, in August 2012, the Al Nusrah Front imposed sharia, or Islamic Law, in conjunction with the Tawhid Brigade, an FSA unit, and the Ahrar al Sham Brigade in Aleppo.

In October 2012, the Al Nusrah Front claimed it commanded elements of the Al Fajr (Dawn) Islamic Brigade, a known Free Syrian Army unit, as well as "Chechens," likely from the Muhajireen Brigade, during an assault on a Syrian air defense and Scud missile base in Aleppo.

In April, the Al Nusrah Front said it conducted a suicide assault with the help of the Nasser Salahuddin Brigade, and conventional attacks with the help of Dera' al Assima, Liwa al Habib al Mustafa, and Liwa' al Tawhid brigades, three Free Syrian Army units in Damascus.

US targets AQAP in another drone strike, kills 3 operatives

Posted: 08 Aug 2013 10:04 AM PDT

The US launched its third drone strike in Yemen in two days, killing three more al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters as part of an effort to disrupt a global plot to target Western facilities and allied countries.

The latest strike took place in the eastern province of Hadramout, a bastion for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The remotely piloted Predators or Reapers struck a vehicle in the Al Ayoon area, The Associated Press reported. Three AQAP fighters are said to have been killed in the latest attack.

No senior al Qaeda operatives or leaders are reported to have been killed at this time. The identities of the al Qaeda operatives who were killed have not been disclosed.

Hadramout is the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden's family, and the province has become an AQAP bastion over the past several years.

In 2012, the US stepped up drone strikes against AQAP in Hadramout. Prior to May 2012, there were zero US drone strikes in the province. From mid-May until the end of 2012, the US launched seven attacks in Hadramout. Seven of the 42 drone strikes in Yemen in 2012, or 17%, have taken place in the province. Today's strike in Hadramout is the second in the province so far this year; the last strike was on Aug. 1.

AQAP was plotting to attack Mukallah, the provincial capital of Hadramout, as well as the Al Dabbah oil and Balhaf gas export facilities, Yemeni officials claimed. AQAP fighters were to hit the city and facilities with fighters disguised as policemen.

Today's strike is the third by the US reported in the past two days. Yesterday, US drones killed seven AQAP fighters in a strike in Shabwa. And late last night, the US killed four more fighters and two civilians in Marib.

The US has stepped up attacks in Yemen; today's strike is the seventh in 12 days. The location of the strikes highlights AQAP's geographical reach in Yemen: two of the strikes took place in Hadramout, two in Abyan, two in Marib, and one in Abyan.

On Aug. 6, the US killed an AQAP operative known as Saleh al-Tays al-Waeli and three other fighters in Marib. Al Waeli's name appeared on a list, published on Aug. 5, of Yemen's 25 most-wanted terrorists who were plotting to conduct attacks in the capital of Sana'a and in a number of other governorates.

On Aug. 1, US drones killed five AQAP fighters in the eastern province of Hadramout. On July 30, US drones killed three AQAP fighters, including a Saudi operative, in a strike in Shabwa province; a mid-level AQAP commander is reported to have been killed in the strike. The previous strike, on July 27, which is said to have killed six AQAP fighters in the Al Mahfad area in Abyan province, broke a seven-week pause in drone activity in Yemen.

The recent spike in attacks is related to the terror warning by the US that led to the closure of diplomatic facilities in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. US officials said they have intercepted communications between al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri and Nasir al Wuhayshi, AQAP's leader and al Qaeda's general manager.

Background on US strikes in Yemen

The US has launched 19 drone strikes in Yemen so far this year. Despite the recent burst of activity, the pace of the strikes has still decreased since last year. In 2012, the US launched 42 drone strikes in Yemen against AQAP and its political front, Ansar al Sharia. The previous year, the US launched 10 drone and air strikes against the al Qaeda affiliate. The strikes are being reduced as the US government is facing increasing international criticism for conducting the attacks in both Yemen and Pakistan.

Although six senior AQAP operatives, including the group's deputy emir, Said al Shihri, were killed in strikes in Yemen in 2012, the group's top leadership cadre remains intact. Just two weeks ago, AQAP confirmed that al Shihri, a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay, was killed; he is thought to have died or to have been seriously wounded following a strike in October 2012.

The US has targeted not only senior AQAP operatives who pose a direct threat to the US, but also low-level fighters and local commanders who are battling the Yemeni government. This trend was first identified by The Long War Journal in the spring of 2012 [see LWJ report, US drone strike kills 8 AQAP fighters, from May 10, 2012]. Obama administration officials have claimed, however, that the drones are targeting only those AQAP leaders and operatives who pose a direct threat to the US homeland, and not those fighting AQAP's local insurgency against the Yemeni government.

For more information on the US airstrikes in Yemen, see LWJ report, Charting the data for US air strikes in Yemen, 2002 - 2013.

MSC in Jerusalem praises slain member in new video

Posted: 08 Aug 2013 06:47 AM PDT

The Ibn Taymiyyah Media Center (ITMC), a jihadist media unit tied to the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC), yesterday released the second episode in a series titled "Journey of Martyrdom." The approximately 31-minute video focused on Hithem Ziad Ibrahim Masshal, a well-known jihadist in the Gaza Strip who was killed in an airstrike by the Israeli Air Force on April 30.

The first episode in the series was released in early February 2013 and focused on MSC member Khalid Salah Abdul Hadi Jadullah (a.k.a. Abu Salah al-Masri). Jadullah, who was portrayed as an al Qaeda martyr, was a member of the MSC cell responsible for carrying out a cross-border attack that killed an Israeli civilian on June 18, 2012.

In the new video, which was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, a narrator provides background on Masshal, who reportedly partook in "confrontations against the Jewish enemy" during the al Aqsa Intifada. According to the narrator, "the spirit of jihad in the Cause of Allah burned in [Masshal's] chest."

The narrator praises Masshal for fighting alongside a number of Palestinian groups and performing "heroic acts," noting that he "had an important role in manufacturing and military preparation, and didn't leave one field without entering it to win one of the two good options [victory or martyrdom]." The narrator lauds Masshal for having "always rolled up his sleeves and used up his time in training the mujahideen to fight and shoot in the Cause of Allah."

When "the door of democracy became wide open in Palestine," the narrator says, Masshal left "the nationalistic and democratic organizations, and started the journey of searching for a clear way and a pure sect that helps him to carry out the obligatory duty of jihad in the Cause of Allah." Masshal soon started to follow Khalid Banat (Abu Abdullah al Suri), a leader in Jund Ansar Allah who had claimed to have fought with leading al Qaeda figures, including Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al Zarqawi.

According to the International Crisis Group, Banat's ability to recruit was pivotal in Jund Ansar Allah's rapid growth. Banat, who originally trained Hamas members, used his connections to appeal to "low-level Qassam members, who upon joining [Jund Ansar Allah] would acquire new and important-sounding titles."

After Hamas failed in an attempt to arrest Banat, Jund Ansar Allah declared Hamas to be impotent, and in early August 2009 Sheikh Abdel Latif Musa, another Jund Ansar Allah leader, declared an Islamic emirate in the Gaza Strip, a move that greatly upset Hamas. Shortly after the declaration, Hamas forces clashed with Jund Ansar Allah fighters at Rafah's Ibn Taymiyyah Mosque. Numerous people from both Hamas and Jund Ansar Allah were killed in the fighting, including Musa and Banat.

According to the narrator in the MSC's new video, Masshal followed the incident at the mosque "with pain and surprise." The jihadist "saw the blood that was shed, the body parts that were scattered, and the homes that were blown up, and he saw that Allah's house was vandalized and the green banner [of Hamas] raised on its sad minaret," the narrator says.

After the incident and the demise of Jund Ansar Allah, the narrator explains, Masshal joined the Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem, which was headed by Abu al Walid al Maqdisi.

Al Maqdisi is a longtime jihadist who claimed to have fought alongside al Qaeda in Iraq in the early days of the Iraq war in 2003 before returning to Gaza and establishing the Tawhid and Jihad Group. A biography released by the group stated, however, that al Maqdisi was arrested by Egyptian security forces while trying to travel to Iraq. Al Maqdisi was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Oct. 13, 2012,along with Ashraf al Sabah, the former emir of Ansar al Sunnah.

According to the narrator, while in the Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem, Masshal "continued his project in manufacturing rockets and he had started making the first local version of the international Katyusha rockets." In addition, al Maqdisi viewed Masshal as "an example for the soldiers of tawhid of giving, sacrifice and courage," the narrator claims.

Eventually, the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem, a consolidation of a number of Salafi jihadists groups in the Gaza Strip, was formed, the video continues. One of the groups included in the MSC was the Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem. According to the narrator, when the MSC was formed, Masshal "had his place and role in this new jihadi project."

"He focused his efforts with his brothers in organizing the ranks and making preparations for confrontation with the enemies of Allah the Jews. He did very well in the rocket campaigns that the lions of the Council carried out, and he had a big share in manufacturing and firing, may Allah bless and reward him," the narrator adds.

The video alleges that Israeli authorities tried to assassinate Masshal on a number of occasions. The narrator specifically notes an incident during Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012 in which an IAF airstrike killed "the mujahid Ahmad al-Nahhal."

In addition to comments from the narrator, the video includes clips from Masshal's mother, who says that "[w]hen he moved up to junior high he was changed from a student to a mujahid." His mother also slams Hamas, the ruling power in Gaza, for detaining her son for a month "without accusation." "Why would a mujahid be detained?," she asks.

Along with these comments, the video includes posthumous clips from Masshal. In one, Masshal warns "the enemies of Allah the Jews." He declares: "We will fight you with our weapons and all types of them. We will fight you with rockets and devices. We will fight you with rifles and bullets. We will fight you with the little and the many. We will fight you even if we have only sticks. We will shoot you with it, until we dedicate the whole religion to Allah."

In another clip, Masshal says that "[o]ur sisters in prisons and our brothers in prisons ... just want from us at every hour to fight the Jews and kill them all the time and everywhere."

Background on Hithem Ziad Ibrahim Masshal

Hithem Ziad Ibrahim Masshal, a well-known jihadist in the Gaza Strip, was killed in an airstrike by the Israeli Air Force on April 30. According to the Israel Defense Forces, Masshal "manufactured, improved and traded different types of ammunition" for various jihadist groups in Gaza, and was involved in the April 17 rocket attack on Eilat from the Sinai that was claimed by the MSC.

Within hours of his death, the MSC released a statement through the Ibn Taymiyyah Media Center confirming that Masshal was a member of their organization. "He stepped everywhere there is jihad, wanting to die, so may Allah have mercy on you, Abu Ziad. The enemy sites will miss you, which you didn't hesitate for one day to pound with rockets," the group said.

The MSC statement, which was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, also said Masshal had held a "high position" in Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades, but he decided to leave the group after Hamas "entered the game of democracy and accepted the abandonment of the divine Shari'ah."

In addition to the statement, the MSC released a video on April 30 of Masshal. In the video, Masshal called on Muslims to participate in jihad and "light fire to the ground beneath the feet of the disbelievers and the apostates." He urged Muslims to take steps toward "returning to their religion and taking down all nationalist affiliations and stepping upon all secular and democratic banners."

Masshal also warned that Muslims must not "listen to those who want to mix between jihad, politics and democracy, for they don't mix at all. Jihad is a divine order and democracy is a disbelieving rule through something Allah didn't reveal." He stated: "Jihad is continuing until the Day of Judgment, and the justice or the injustice of anyone will not stop it."

Speaking of Hamas' al Qassam Brigades, to which he had formerly belonged, Masshal said: "He who looks at your state today will almost cry for you, for you have unfortunately become a tool in the hand of the government that governs in Gaza."

About a week after Masshal was killed, MSC official Abdullah Jihad al Ashqar (Abu al Muhtasib al Maqdisi) released an audio statementpraising the slain jihadist. Al Ashqar lauded Masshal and said that he had "never visited him [Masshal] without finding his room full with materials for manufacturing and preparing rockets, and the materials of jihad."

He went on to say that Masshal "put most of his time in the folds of the jihadi work, such that even his family would miss seeing him due to his absence from him. He was not stingy with his money, so he would provide what he and his brothers required of equipment."

Al Ashqar also alleged that Masshal "was the first to have manufactured what is known as '107 rockets' [107mm Katyusha] in the Gaza Strip." Thanks to the work of Masshal, al Ashqar claimed, "a local copy of the 107mm Katyusha rocket... is [now] in the hands of all the mujahideen" in Gaza.

During his funeral, Masshal was wrapped in al Qaeda's black flag, which was first used by al Qaeda in Iraq but has been adopted by other al Qaeda affiliates.

Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem

The Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) is a consolidation of a number of Salafi jihadist groups operating in the Gaza Strip including, but not limited to: Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem, and Ansar al Sunnah. Sheikh Anas Abdul Rahman, one of the group's leaders, has said that the group aims to "fight the Jews for the return of Islam's rule, not only in Palestine, but throughout the world."

The MSC has taken responsibility for a number of rocket attacks against Israel, as well as the June 18, 2012 attack that killed one Israeli civilian. The group said the attack was "a gift to our brothers in Qaedat al Jihad and Sheikh Zawahiri" and retaliation for the death of Osama bin Laden. In early February 2013, the MSC released a martyrdom video branding one of the terrorists killed in the June 2012 attack as an al Qaeda "martyr."

On Oct. 22, 2012, the MSC released a 32-minute-long video detailing some of its rocket attacks against Israel and threatening to "fight you [Israel] as long as we hold...weapons in our hands." In November 2012, the group carried out joint rocket attacks with the Army of Islam. Following the institution of a ceasefire that ended Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense, the MSC said that they were not truly a party to the ceasefire.

Over the past two years, the Israeli Air Force has targeted a number of MSC members. On Oct. 7, 2012, the IDF targeted Tala'at Halil Muhammad Jarbi, a "global jihad operative," and Abdullah Muhammad Hassan Maqawai, a member of the MSC. Maqawai, likely a former member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, died of his wounds. On Oct. 13, 2012, Israel killed Abu al Walid al Maqdisi, the former emir of the Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem, and Ashraf al Sabah, the former emir of Ansar al Sunnah, in an airstrike. The two men were said to beleaders of the MSC. Numerous jihadist groups and media units as well as al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri issued statements following the death of the two jihadists.

More recently, in April this year, the IAF targeted and killed Hithem Ziad Ibrahim Masshal, a well-known jihadist in the Gaza Strip, who was said to be a member of the MSC. On May 7, Masshal was eulogized by a senior member of the MSC who claimed that he never visited Masshal "without finding his room full with materials for manufacturing and preparing rockets, and the materials of jihad."

In June, jihadists in Syria called on Hamas members as well as members of other Palestinian factions in Gaza to join the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem.

Since its formation, the group has released a couple of eulogies for slain al Qaeda leaders. For example, in September 2012 the group released a eulogy to jihadist forums for Abu Yahya al Libi, a longtime al Qaeda leader from Libya, who was killed in a US drone strike in Mir Ali in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan on June 4, 2012. More recently, in mid-July, the group released astatement of condolence to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) after it confirmed the death of its deputy leader, Said al Shihri (a.k.a. Abu Sufyan al-Azdi).