Photo: Alamy
The head of al-Qaida’s Yemen branch, Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki, threatened President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk over the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. This marks his first video statement since assuming leadership of the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) branch last year.
In the 30-minute video, which surfaced online early Saturday through AQAP supporters, al-Awlaki urged lone-wolf attackers to target leaders in Egypt, Jordan, and Gulf Arab states due to the ongoing war that has devastated Gaza. The video featured images of Trump, Musk, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of State Pete Hegseth, alongside logos of Tesla and other companies owned by Musk.
“There are no red lines after what happened and is happening to our people in Gaza,” al-Awlaki declared. “Retaliation is legitimate.”
Despite being weakened by internal conflicts and suspected U.S. drone strikes targeting its leadership, AQAP was once considered al-Qaida’s most dangerous faction, particularly after the 2011 U.S. Navy SEAL operation that killed al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden, the architect of the September 11, 2001, attacks. In 2022, a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan eliminated bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al-Zawahri, a key figure in the 9/11 plot.
Al-Awlaki, who succeeded AQAP leader Khalid al-Batarfi after he was killed by a U.S. drone strike in 2024, carries a $6 million U.S. bounty for inciting attacks against the U.S. and its allies. AQAP’s focus on the Israel-Hamas war mirrors the strategy of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels. They have attacked Israel with missiles, targeted commercial ships in the Red Sea, and clashed with U.S. naval forces in what the U.S. Navy calls its most intense combat since World War II.
The Trump administration recently conducted a heavy campaign of strikes against the Houthis, halting just before the president’s Middle East visit. The Houthis have gained global attention amid Yemen’s prolonged civil war, and al-Awlaki appears to be leveraging the Gaza conflict to boost AQAP’s relevance. The United Nations estimates AQAP has 3,000 to 4,000 active and passive members, funding itself through bank robberies, arms smuggling, counterfeiting, and ransoms.
Although the Shiite Zaydi Houthis have denied collaboration with the Sunni extremist AQAP, the latter’s attacks on the Houthis have decreased in recent years, with AQAP focusing more on Saudi-led coalition forces fighting the Houthis.
“As the Houthis gain popularity as leaders of the ‘Arab and Muslim world’s resistance’ against Israel, al-Awlaki seeks to challenge their dominance by presenting himself as equally concerned about the situation in Gaza,” said Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen analyst at the Basha Report risk advisory firm. “For a national security and foreign policy community increasingly disengaged from Yemen, this video is a clear reminder: Yemen still matters.”
The Trump administration has not responded to the comments made in the video, but ignoring or avoiding amplification of the threat could be a strategic decision.
