Questions about Pledge of Allegiance to the New ISIS Leader

Libyan forces attack ISIS sites during the “Al-Bonyan Al-Marsous” operation in Sirte 2016. (Getty Images)
Libyan forces attack ISIS sites during the “Al-Bonyan Al-Marsous” operation in Sirte 2016. (Getty Images)
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Questions about Pledge of Allegiance to the New ISIS Leader

Libyan forces attack ISIS sites during the “Al-Bonyan Al-Marsous” operation in Sirte 2016. (Getty Images)
Libyan forces attack ISIS sites during the “Al-Bonyan Al-Marsous” operation in Sirte 2016. (Getty Images)

Days after ISIS announced the appointment of “Abul-Hussein Al-Husseini Al-Qurashi” to lead the organization, succeeding “Abul-Hassan Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi”, and the organization’s call to pledge allegiance to the “new leader,” experts in the affairs of international terrorism said the development raised ambiguities.

A Syrian security source had confirmed the death of “Abul-Hassan al-Qurashi” in a military operation by the Syrian army, a month and a half ago in the south of the country, according to the official news agency (SANA).

On Wednesday, ISIS announced the killing of Abul-Hassan in battles, without disclosing a specific date or location. But Washington said that he had been killed in mid-October in southern Syria.

Mounir Adeeb, an Egyptian researcher in extremist movements and international terrorism, told Asharq Al-Awsat that ISIS was withholding information and maintaining secrecy.

“It is difficult to determine the identity of “Abul-Hussein Al-Husseini” because the organization has used a nickname, not his real name…” he remarked.

The leaders of ISIS are usually known by more than one nickname. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was killed by a US strike in Idlib, northwestern Syria, in October 2019, held other names including, Ibrahim Awad al-Badri and Abu Duaa al-Samarrai.

Similarly, “Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi,” who was killed in a US strike in northern Idlib, western Syria, on Feb. 3, was also called Haji Abdullah Qaradish and Abu Omar Qaradish. Some indicated that “Abul-Hassan Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi” was also named Zaid Al-Iraqi and Jumaa Awad Al-Badri.

A well-informed source stated that the organization’s reticence in announcing the real identity of its new leader might raise ambiguity over the validity of the pledge of allegiance.

The appointment of “Abul-Hussein” could be a form of cover-up, to hide the reality of the ongoing dispute within the organization, the source told Asharq Al-Awsat.



Israel PM Says in ‘Profound Shock’ over Hostage Videos

 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an event at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem on July 27, 2025. (AFP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an event at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem on July 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Israel PM Says in ‘Profound Shock’ over Hostage Videos

 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an event at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem on July 27, 2025. (AFP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an event at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem on July 27, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with relatives of two hostages held in Gaza seen in videos released by Palestinian armed groups, expressing his "profound shock" over the images, his office said.

Since Thursday, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have released three clips showing two hostages taken during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.

The images of Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, looking emaciated after nearly 22 months of captivity, have sparked strong reactions among Israelis, fueling renewed calls to reach a truce and hostage release deal without delay.

"The prime minister expressed profound shock over the materials distributed by the terror organizations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and told the families that the efforts to return all our hostages are ongoing, and will continue constantly and relentlessly," said a statement from Netanyahu's office released late Saturday.

Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of people had rallied in the coastal hub of Tel Aviv to urge Netanyahu's government to secure the release of the remaining hostages.

In the footage shared by the Palestinian groups, 21-year-old Braslavski, a German-Israeli dual national, and 24-year-old David both appear weak and malnourished.

The videos make references to the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned a "famine is unfolding".

Israeli newspapers dedicated their front pages on Sunday to the plight of the hostages, with Maariv decrying "hell in Gaza" and Yedioth Ahronoth showing a "malnourished, emaciated and desperate" David.

Right-wing daily Israel Hayom said that Hamas's "cruelty knows no bounds", while left-leaning Haaretz declared that "Netanyahu is in no rush" to rescue the captives.

Netanyahu, according to his office, spoke "at length" with Braslavski and David's families on Saturday, decrying "the cruelty of Hamas".

He accused the group of "deliberately starving our hostages" and documenting them "in a cynical and evil manner".

Israel, meanwhile, "is allowing the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza", Netanyahu said.

Reiterating Israel's stance that it was not to blame for the humanitarian crisis, Netanyahu said "the terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving the residents of the Strip" by preventing them from receiving the aid that enters Gaza.

The Israeli premier, who has faced mounting international pressure to halt the war, called on "the entire world" to take a stand against what he called "the criminal Nazi abuse perpetrated by the Hamas terror organization".

Braslavski and David are among 49 hostages seized during Hamas's 2023 attack who are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Most of the 251 hostages taken in the attack have been released during two short-lived truces in the war, some in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody.

The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.

Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed at least 60,430 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.

Israel has heavily restricted the entry of aid into Gaza, already under blockade for 15 years before the ongoing war.

Overnight from Saturday to Sunday, air raid sirens sounded in Israeli communities near the Gaza border, with the military saying that "a projectile that was launched from the southern Gaza Strip was most likely intercepted".