Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility for Launching Missiles on Israel from South Lebanon

A military commander and strategic analyst in al Qaeda organization who uses the name "Assad al-Jihad" (Lion of Jihad) claimed in a posting on a pro-al Qaeda website that the executors of the "mysterious" Katyusha mortars fired on Israel during the war on Gaza were members of "al Qaeda Organization in the Lands of the Levant." The announcement is the first official claim of responsibility made by an al Qaeda senior operative.

There is no proof however that al Qaeda was behind the attack nor is there evidence of the existence of a group with that name in Lebanon. Senior al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahri and Abu Yahya al Libi had issued statements condemning the Israeli attacks on Gaza.