GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Ahmed, a 19-year-old affiliated with one of the Salafist jihadist factions in Gaza, thought he had found the perfect environment in Syria for implementing his jihadist ideas, fighting among the ranks of the Islamic State (IS). His father told Al-Monitor that Ahmed (a pseudonym) had been living in a refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip before joining IS at the beginning of 2014. Ahmed was killed at the end of the year.

Ahmed's father, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, said his son had died during clashes between IS and Kurdish forces, adding that Ahmed had initially kept him in the dark about his trip to Syria. “I didn't know he had gone to fight in Syria. Had I known, I would have stopped him,” he said. He later learned that his son had left Gaza via the tunnels on the Egyptian border.

He stressed that his son had not shown any signs of extremism, despite his affiliation with one of Gaza's Salafist jihadist organizations, on which security services try to keep a tight lid. Ahmed's father said, “My son left the Strip to join the jihad in Syria because he was harassed by the security services in Gaza and was repeatedly arrested for being affiliated with small Salafist groups.”

According to the Salafist factions’ media outlets and statements, several Gazan youth who traveled to Syria to fight with IS have been killed in recent months, indicating a possible presence by IS for recruiting in Gaza, although quite limited.