Al Qaeda's No. 2 urged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip not to succumb to Arab pressure for a ceasefire with Israel and vowed to support fighting against the Jewish state. The Egypt-born leader in a recording posted on the Internet on Monday said: "Israel's Arab aides are trying to impose a calm on the people of Gaza to stop their jihad ... I tell our brothers and folk in Gaza that jihad to liberate Palestine and all Islamic land should not stop."
"I reaffirm to our brothers the fighters in Gaza and everywhere that the mujahideen against crusaders in various battle zones are willing to give their brothers in Gaza and everywhere training and preparation," Ayman al-Zawahri said.
Without naming Hamas, Zawahri advised the movement against blending with non-Islamist factions under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "Talk of fixing the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) is futile," said Zawahri. "The PLO is a secular entity that does not uphold Islamic law and it is the entity that dropped jihad from its covenant."
