As Operation Protective Edge holds in a temporary ceasefire, evidence has come out revealing the extent of the extremist Sunni group Islamic State's (IS, formerly ISIS) involvement in the terror war against Israel from the Hamas stronghold of Gaza.
Terror organizations associated with IS and Al Qaeda have been proven to be joining the fight against Israel in Gaza, firing rockets on Israeli civilian population centers and attacking IDF troops.
On Sunday the Abdullah Azzam Brigades declared it had fired a Grad missile towards the Israeli town of Mivtahim located near southern Gaza. The announcement comes after similar ones last month by the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis and Majlis Shura al-Mujahidin organizations.
IS terrorists have already been proven to be active in Gaza in a video uploaded by the group in July, showing them firing rockets on Israel. Perhaps more troubling is a Channel 10 report which on Sunday exposed that in recent months black IS flags have been commonly seen in Arab-Israeli towns in northern and coastal Israel, notably in the cities of Nazareth and Akko.
Since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge on July 8, the IS and Al Qaeda-associated organizations in Gaza have announced the deaths of at least 13 of their terrorists in the fighting against the IDF and Israel.
The 13 include Abdullah Awani al-Fara, Ahmed Omar Abed al-A'al, Jaber Hamdan Abu Jaber, Saeed al-Lahawani, Usa Mohammed al-Sha'ar, Yusuf Jalal Barkat, Hamza Yusuf Muamar, Eyman Abed al-Rauf al-Sheikh, Hamza Halad al-Kadi, Mohammed Hamdan, Rasam Abu A'adra, and Mohammed al-Hamida.
The list repeats Abdullah Awani al-Fara's name to reach a total of 13, a technique being used rampantly in the manipulation of casualty figures being presented about the operation.
A video posted last Friday shows terrorists of the IS and Al Qaeda affiliated organizations active in Gaza. Masked terrorists can be seen making declarations in front of the black IS flag and firing mortar shells at Israel.