GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — On Feb. 2, 2014, the Mujahedeen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem in Gaza issued a statement announcing that it was “committed to helping ISIS and bolstering its ranks.” Nine days later, another Salafist jihadist group posted a video announcing its support for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, now the Islamic State (IS). By the end of 2014, things appeared to have moved beyond mere support, as Al-Monitor met with Gazans who claimed to be affiliated with IS, although, according to the spiritual leader of pro-IS youth in Gaza, IS had rejected their pledge of allegiance.

Abu al-Walid, 63, a leading IS sympathizer in Gaza, told Al-Monitor during a meeting at his home in southern Gaza, “Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has not accepted the allegiance of any Salafist individuals or groups in the Gaza Strip.” Abu al-Walid, considered the “spiritual father” of young IS sympathizers in Gaza, further stated, “Since we are dispersed and divided as jihadist groups, Baghdadi did not accept our allegiance although we reiterated it.”

He explained that Baghdadi is aware of various disputes among Salafist groups in Gaza and clarified that Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis in Sinai deserved their allegiance to be accepted, because they had managed to organize 19 Salafist groups under their flag and carry out operations on the ground.

Abu al-Walid asserted that the dispute between IS and al-Qaeda has affected the jihadist community in Gaza, stating, “Salafist groups have become divided, and they have tarnished IS’ image in the Gaza Strip, even more than Hamas has, due to the dispute between IS and al-Qaeda.” He also said, however: “There is an IS-affiliated group in the Gaza Strip, and it is not a bunch of divided individuals. Hamas and all Salafist groups are well-aware of this.”