Pictures of two out of the four rockets fired on August 22 at the Israeli cities of Nahariya and Acre, posted on Sheikh Siraj al-Din Zariqat’s Twitter account. The Abdullah Azzam Brigades logo can be seen on the left side of each picture, while the time and date appears on the right. The explanatory text on the right reads: “One of the rockets fired at Acre, in occupied Palestine”. Left: “One of the rockets fired at Nahariya, in occupied Palestine” (Sheikh Siraj al-Din Zariqat’s Twitter account, August 27, 2013).
Overview
1. On August 27, 2013, Sheikh Siraj al-Din Zariqat’s Twitter account gave the full text of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades/Ziyad Al-Jarrah Battalions’ claim of responsibility for firing four 122-mm Grad rockets with a range of 40 km, or about 25 miles, at Nahariya and Acre. The first, rough version of the organization’s claim of responsibility was posted on the sheikh’s Twitter account on August 22, 2013.
2. Siraj al-Din Zariqat is a Lebanese sheikh who is considered a senior figure in the Abdullah Azzam Brigades in Lebanon. He is one of the preachers who deliver the Friday prayers in the mosques in Beirut, belongs to the Dar al-Fatwa Institution (a Sunni religious institution under the control of the Mufti of Lebanon), and supports the revolt against the Syrian regime. In the past he was detained and closely monitored by Lebanese intelligence.
3. According to the announcement, the attack was “a renewal of the jihadist activity” carried out by the Abdullah Azzam Brigades “against the Jews”, which had been put on hold due to the revolution in Syria. The activity has been resumed, the announcement said, due to “the criminal involvement of Iran’s Hezbollah” in Syria and because Israel and the United States gave the Assad regime a go-ahead to commit a genocide in Syria.
4. The announcement ended in a warning addressed to Israel, stating that the Abdullah Azzam Brigades have additional high-quality rockets and that “Haifa needs to stock up on fine shrouds” and await the arrival of the organization’s rockets (Sheikh Siraj al-Din Zariqat’s Twitter account, August 27, 2013).
[*] Update to our August 28, 2013 Information Bulletin: “The global jihad-affiliated Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed responsibility for firing rockets from south Lebanon into the western Galilee on August 22”.
