Taliban Spox Says Israel a ‘Tumor’ to be Destroyed

“Israel is like a tumor in the body of the Islamic Ummah [community of believers],” Taliban spokesman Mujahid declared in a recent interview on Iran’s Al-Alam TV network.

While the Biden White House is working overtime to spin the disaster in Afghanistan into a “extraordinary success,” the Taliban regime in Kabul is revealing its true jihadi nature.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid compared Israel to a tumor that needed to be destroyed, reports in the Iranian state media show. “Israel is like a tumor in the body of the Islamic Ummah [community of believers],” Taliban spokesman Mujahid declared in a recent interview on Iran’s Al-Alam TV network.

The comment’s made by Taliban’s official spokesman echo the position taken by the Iranian regime. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the leading members of his regime have repeatedly called Israel a “cancerous tumor” that needs to be “uprooted and destroyed.”

When it comes to dealing with Israel — the only democracy in the Middle East and the most-trusted U.S. ally in the region — the Sunni jihadi militia Taliban and the Shia clerical regime of Iran are on the same page.

The remarks come as the Taliban is building a Islamic regime in Afghanistan modeled on Iran, the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism. The Taliban is set to name its top Mullah, Hibatullah Akhundzada, as Afghanistan’s Supreme Leader, a title similar to one assumed by Iran’s Ayatollahs. Akhundzada was Taliban’s chief executioner during its previous rule, running Sharia Courts in 1990s.

It is also worth noting that Taliban’s official spokesman Mujahid is an avid Twitter user. While Twitter purges patriots and conservatives in the U.S. and Europe, Taliban spokesman’s official account is still active on the platform. His Twitter-feed, as reviewed on Saturday, shows that its is being used to coordinated military operations — telling Afghan rebels to surrender and dispatching orders to Taliban forces in the country.

Taliban Supports Jihad in Indian Kashmir

With most of Afghanistan firm in Taliban’s control, the Islamist militia has began promoting jihad in the neighboring region. On Friday, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen declared support for Islamist separatists waging jihad in Indian province of Kashmir.

As the newly-formed Islamic Emirate, the Taliban “have a right to raise our voice for Muslims in Kashmir, India or any other country,” the spokesman said.

Pakistan-backed jihadi groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are waging a deadly jihad against Indian security forces and civilians in Muslim-majority region of Kashmir. At least 47,000 India’s have been killed in Islamist terror attacks in recent decades.

The Taliban victory is being celebrated by Kashmiri terrorist groups based in Pakistan. “Videos have emerged from the area which show cadres of Pakistan-based terror groups Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) taking part in the rally and firing celebratory shots in the air,” Indian newspaper The Hindustan Times reported last week.

The BBC reported Taliban’s support for jihad in Kashmir:

Suhail Shaheen told the BBC’s Hindi service: “As Muslims, we also have a right to raise our voice for Muslims in Kashmir, India or any other country.”

India and Pakistan control different parts of the Muslim-majority territory, but both claim it as wholly theirs.

There has been violence on the Indian-run side for 30 years, because of a separatist insurgency. (…)

This is the first time the group has commented on Indian-administered Kashmir.

The statement made by the Taliban spokesman coincide with the call for worldwide jihad made by resurgent al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Congratulating its ally Taliban on the “historic victory,” al Qaeda on Wednesday, urged the “Muslims masses” to “prepare for the next stage” of jihad to establish Islamic rule from Arab North Africa to the Middle East.

In an official statement, Al Qaeda called on the jihadis worldwide to follow Taliban’s footsteps and “liberate” Kashmir, Palestine [a reference to Israel], Yemen and other “Islamic lands.”

“This victory demonstrates what the Islamic nation is capable of when it unites (and) proves that the way of jihad is the only way,” the terrorist group declared.

>


The move “will send the wrong message, not only to the region, not only to the Palestinians, but also to other countries, and we don’t want this to happen,” Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has said.

By Aryeh Savir/TPS

A delegation of four U.S. Senators was in Israel last week for a series of meeting with the country’s leadership, as part of their tour of the region.

The delegation of Democratic senators was headed by Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), chair of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism, and included Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Jerry Moran (R-KS).

They met with President Isaac Herzog on Friday, who stated after the meeting that “bipartisanship is a sacred pillar of the U.S.-Israel alliance. Delighted to welcome a delegation of U.S. Democratic Senators to Jerusalem.”

Also in Friday, they met with Prime Minister Bennett and other officials and “stressed the importance we place on reopening our consulate in Jerusalem to better serve Palestinians.”

“This consulate was open for over 100 years before being cruelly shuttered by President Trump,” stated Murphy.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid stated earlier in the week that reopening the consulate was “a bad idea.” They also met with him.

The move “will send the wrong message, not only to the region, not only to the Palestinians, but also to other countries, and we don’t want this to happen,” Lapid stated on Wednesday.

Furthermore, “we have an interesting yet delicate structure of our government and we think this might destabilize this government and I don’t think the American administration wants this to happen,” he said.

The Bennett-Lapid government had reportedly asked the Biden administration to delay the opening of the consulate and thus prevent another political crisis that would threaten the government’s stability, at least until after the budget is passed in November.

​​The four visited the Knesset on Thursday and held meetings with Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Ram Ben Barak and Special Committee on Arab Society Affairs Chairman MK Mansour Abbas, of the Islamist Ra’am party.


According to a Hamas official, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is currently weak due to Israeli internal affairs, which Hamas intends to take advantage of during September. 

By Tobias Siegal, World Israel News

Hamas uses a variety of tools to constantly follow and interpret the current state of Israeli politics in order to make tactical decisions and reach long-term strategic objectives.

The latest example of this can be found an article recently published by a senior Hamas official and cited by INN.

In his article, Imad Zakut, director of the news department of Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV channel, estimates that “we may witness a new battle to lift restrictions and the siege on Gaza,” in the upcoming weeks, leading to “the great and comprehensive battle for the liberation of Palestine.”

And while such threats by Hamas officials are nothing new and do not usually amount to much, it is worth examining the context cited by Zakut as the basis for his arguments.

Zakut specifically addresses Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and argues that he does not have the capabilities, within the confines of his government, to stop Hamas when the threat increases.

In an impressive understanding of Israeli politics, Zakut writes: “[Bennett] only won power for two years and he wants to keep it … he does not rely on a large party with a historical background, since his Yamina party won only six seats in the Knesset and the government composition is very complex and it will fall if only one party resigns.”

According to Zakut, “these factors have led Bennett to appeal to Palestinian resistance organizations through mediators to keep calm and be content with the most recent steps. However, they cannot accept this, and in their repeated statements express a determination to continue the pressure and put in front of Bennett two possibilities: either his government will fall completely or the siege over the Gaza Strip will be lifted.”

Hamas will try to pressure Bennett during the month of September, Zakut argues, as internal issues in Israel “have become stressful for Bennett and he is weak because of them.” These include, according to Zakut, the opening of the Israeli education system, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the approaching Jewish High Holidays.

“Bennett’s weakness may entice him to carry out an assassination operation against [Hamas leader in Gaza] Yahya Sinwar, which will undoubtedly be an uncalculated move by Bennett that will lead to a reversal of the situation against the Zionist leaders,” Zakut concluded.

Sinwar himself, is reportedly “up in arms” and has told Lebanese media that “the Gaza Strip is ready for another military confrontation and it will happen at the last minute if all efforts fail.”

Daoud Shahab, one of the leaders of Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, also said that “the options available to the resistance are many.”

Palestinians continued to riot along the Gaza border with Israel last week, often leading to violent confrontations with IDF troops.

On Thursday night, a 26-year-old Palestinian rioters was killed and dozens were injured after thousands of rioters hurled explosive devices and burned tires toward Israeli soldiers along the border.

The ongoing riots have been organized by Hamas and carried out by what the organization calls “night confusion brigades” that have been rioting along the border every night for the past week in an attempt to lift more restrictions on the Gaza Strip.

“The Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip are determined to achieve all their demands and not to agree to any more gradual mitigations,” Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif al-Qanua said last week.

The IDF has also indicated that it is preparing for a looming confrontation is Gaza, possibly in the coming days.