Anti-Israel Jihadist and Islamist propaganda and reactions

April 2023

Since the beginning of April, a new political/religious crisis has erupted between Jews and Muslims, in the now more than 70-year-old clash between Israel and the Palestinians (Arab/Muslim world more generally).

This time the crisis was provoked by a series of violent clashes between Palestinian Muslims and Israeli police in the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem in April 2023.

The clashes occurred during a period of rising Israeli-Palestinian tensions due to the convergence of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Jewish Passover, and the Christian Easter week.

On 5 April, after the evening prayer of Ramadan, Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the mosque, prompted by reports on social media that Jewish extremists had planned sacrifices in the area. In response, Israeli police raided the mosque in riot gear, injuring 50 people and arresting 400, throwing deafening grenades, firing rubber bullets and beating Palestinians on the floor with batons.

In the aftermath of the clashes, numerous rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and even today, a month later, the escalation situation has not subsided and is escalating again.

As with every geopolitical, political, social and religious event, jihadist groups are always quick to provide their vision or propaganda in response to similar events. The Holy City of Jerusalem has always occupied a prominent place in the propaganda and military objectives of jihadist organisations for the past two decades, and even this time, the official responses from jihadist organisations and groups (or even from unofficial media or supporters), have arrived on time.

Jihadist and Islamist reactions to the violence in Al-Aqsa and anti-Israel propaganda

It has been published by both official and unofficial media channels and supporters