Islamic State Publishes Picture of Palestinian ‘Martyr’ In Seeming Bid to Embarrass Hamas

TEL AVIV – On Wednesday, the Islamic State organization published  another picture of a Palestinian militant who died in battle in a further bid to embarrass Hamas.

According to IS, Abu Albaraa Almaqdesi (“the Jerusalemite”), a native of Gaza, carried out a suicide attack against Iraqi forces near the Iraqi town of Hit in the Alanbar region. The attack allegedly left 10 Iraqi soldiers dead and four military vehicles destroyed.

This is the second time in a week that IS reported the death of a Palestinian member, apparently as part of a popularity contest with Hamas, which has cracked down on IS sympathizers in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier this week, IS published the picture of Abu Baker al Gazawi (“the Gazan”), who was killed in Sinai in an attack against Egyptian troops, followed by the picture of Abu Abdel Rahman Almaqdesi, a suicide bomber who died in Mosul.

A top Gaza jihadi told Breitbart Jerusalem that “the publication of the identity of Palestinian jihadists who died while fighting for the Islamic State is meant to send a message to young Palestinian militants that fewer and fewer of those still adhere to the traditional Palestinian organizations, especially the Islamic ones like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and have joined the ranks of Islamic State. Most young jihadists in Gaza were once Hamas and Islamic Jihad members.”

Meanwhile, Hamas’ campaign against IS sympathizers continued in the Strip. Breitbart Jerusalem learned from jihadi sources that a militant was severely wounded after being shot in the head by Hamas forces during a raid.

Mahmoud Altaweel of Nusseirat refugee camp reportedly escaped arrest despite his injury. His brother and father were arrested in an attempt to force him to turn himself in.