Islamic State said set to release video of ‘Israeli spy’ execution

A Syrian group opposed to the Islamic State claimed Tuesday that the jihadist organization would release a video in the coming days showing the execution of a Palestinian man it claims is a Mossad agent.

The group, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, tweeted that IS planned to publish a video of the slaying of Muhammad Said Ismail Musallam, 19, after first showing an interview with the captured East Jerusalem resident. The tweet didn’t specify when the video was to be released. It was not clear, either, whether it was claimed that Musallam had already been executed.

The report could not be independently confirmed.

Musallam reportedly left home four months ago without warning and joined the Islamic State in Syria. One week later, Musallam’s father said received an email from his son saying he wished to become a martyr, Haaretz reported in February. He was later detained and reportedly confessed to being an Israeli agent.

Musallam’s family has denied that he has any connection to Israel’s spy agency, the Mossad.

https://twitter.com/raqqa_mcr/status/575309393497055233

In February an issue of IS’s English-language magazine, Dabiq, included an interview with the East Jerusalem native and said he was recruited to work for the Israeli intelligence agency by his Jewish neighbor, a police officer named “Eli.”

Musallam’s father said they have had sporadic contact with their son over the past several months, but several weeks ago he was approached by someone who said they saw their son in an Islamic State prison.

“He is not a spy, he went over on his own — they recruited him on the Internet. I don’t know what they said to him or how they got into his head, but he is not connected with the Mossad, the Shin Bet security services or anyone else,” Musallam’s father said.

In the Dabiq interview, Musallam said he accepted his neighbor’s offer after gaining his family’s support and hearing of the salary and financial opportunities.

“They [his father and brother] both encouraged me to do it and told me that it was a very good job. They told me that there was a lot of money in it, and that you could advance to higher positions. I knew at that point that they themselves were working as spies,” he was quoted as saying.

Musallam said his base pay was NIS 5,000 per month, but would increase depending on the importance of the assignment and level of risk involved.

Later, Musallam said a Mosssad agent named “Miro” approached him, with an offer to spy on the Islamic State in Syria. According to the magazine, his mission was to collect specific information about weapons, where they were stored and to identify any Israeli Arabs or Palestinians fighting in the ranks of the jihadist group.

Noticing that his behavior was unusual for a volunteer jihadist, his commanders began to suspect Musallam and began to monitor him, according to the magazine.

Musallam was detained and confessed to being an informant.

A number of Israelis are thought to have joined up with the Islamic State, which has attracted 20,000 foreign fighters, according to a US report this week.

In January, a Nazareth man was arrested upon returning to Israel after joining the Islamic State to fight in Iraq.

The group, which captured wide swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq, is known for its brutal tactics and use of slick propaganda material to spread its Islamist message.

Tamar Pileggi contributed to this report.