After months of planning, U.S. special forces attacked the compound in the northeastern Syrian province of Idlib where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi—Islamic State’s self-styled caliph—was hiding. When cornered, Baghdadi blew himself up. Ron Ben-Yishai sums up the implications for Islamic State (IS) and for Israel:
Baghdadi’s death may accelerate the occupation of the Idlib enclave by the Assad regime, helped by Russian bombing and backed by Shiite militias operating under Iranian patronage. Islamic State’s Sunni rival, the al-Qaeda organization formerly called Nusra Front, is also active in Idlib and is no less radical or less determined to fight Assad’s regime. Nonetheless, the death of Baghdadi may affect the morale of all the Sunni jihadists now concentrated in Idlib to prepare for the final battle.
According to the United Nations, the organization still has some 30,000 fighters in scattered underground cells in Iraq and Syria; these cells include foreign Muslim civilians from all over the world—from Europe to Chechnya and Afghanistan and the Philippines. IS also has thousands of fighters in the Sinai Peninsula battling the Egyptian army, as well as active and murderous groups in Nigeria, Pakistan, France and Belgium. And this is only a partial list.
Baghdadi’s death is good news [for Israel, however], and one can assume that fewer and fewer Arab citizens of Israel will now try to reach Syria and Iraq to fight in Islamic State’s ranks. Even so, IS underground activity in Europe is unlikely to cease. It may even be bolstered by the announcement of a new leader to replace Baghdadi and inspired by the myths created among jihadists around the world following his death.
Read more on Ynet: https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5614124,00.html