Thread by @Rita_Katz

1)BREAKING: #ISIS Furqan promoting upcoming release. Will be from either Baghdadi’s successor or spox. ISIS’ current spox has issued 2 audios since taking the position -in Oct 2019 & Jan 2020. Thus far, leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi has yet to be featured in vid/audio

2)#ISIS former spox notably killed 1 day after #Baghdadi, leaving the reigns to Abu Hamza al-Qurashi. This release comes on heels of #Ramadan 2020 & ISIS Battle of Attrition military campaign, both of which spelled a substantial uptick in ops across #Iraq #Syria & global provs

3)In preparation for the new speech from #ISIS leadership, group supporters have been creating channels and groups on various platforms to prepare for the dissemination of the piece, be it video or audio.

4)BREAKING: #ISIS Furqan speech out & being conducted by #ISIS spokesman Abu Hamza al-Qurashi. This is his 3rd speech since becoming the spokesman after the death of former spox Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir. The speech is titled “And the Disbelievers Will Know who Gets the Good End"

5) In new speech from #ISIS, spokesman Abu Hamza al-Quraishi capitalizes on #COVID19, framing it as God’s justice against the West for their attacks against its so-called caliphate and the killing of Muslims. He also promises that ISIS will not stop fighting.

6) In the 39 minute speech, Abu Hamza says the Doha peace agreement being used as a “cover” to strengthen an alliance between the "apostate" Taliban and "Crusaders" to fight #ISIS in Afghanistan. He touts #ISKP as enduring in the region and remaining able to execute attacks.

7) Regarding the #coronaviruspandemic, Abu Hamza asserts hypocrisy among the “tyrant” governments that promise to protect “the health and safety” of the public while putting “hundreds of thousands of Muslims in their prisons” where they are “tormented.”

8) Of note (but not surprise), Abu Hamza comments on boiling rivalry w al-Qaeda in West Africa, claiming that AQ branches AQIM/JNIM use force against those from its ranks who wish to join “caliphate” there. Echoes ISIS’ past condemnations of Shabaab in E Africa & AQAP in Yemen.

9)Abu Hamza also commented that current Caliph Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi approved of #ISIS' latest military campaign, the 3rd wave of its "Battle of Attrition," which ran from May 14-25, and accounted for nearly 140 operations across 15 countries.

10) Abu Hamza touches on future of ISIS, promising current conditions will make shifts toward “major transformations” in Muslim countries and a new generation of the global jihad, in which “there will be greater opportunities than God would have facilitated for you a decade ago.”

11) Of course, it’s never an #ISIS speech without the call for attacks and soldier-rallying. Abu Hamza exclaims: “accentuate the flames and never stop the attacks…ambush them along roads…burn their convoys…destroy checkpoints and barracks...” ent.siteintelgroup.com/Statements/is-…

12) “100s of thousands” of imprisoned Muslims Abu Hamza refers to appears to be (in part) 10k ISIS prisoners in Syria's Kurdish-run prisons. US notes fears of “a mass breakout” of #COVID19 in these prisons—tense circumstances ISIS would want to exacerbate. nytimes.com/2020/05/25/wor…