<p>The Islamic State group vowed to turn to Israel as the main target of its attacks, according to a purported audio message of its spokesman released on Monday.</p>.<p>Abu Hamza al-Quraishi said IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi encourages the group's fighters to launch "a new phase" and vowed major operations against Israel.</p>.<p>"The eyes of the soldiers of the caliphate, wherever they are, are still on Jerusalem," the spokesman said in the 37-minute message.</p>.<p>"And in the coming days, God willing, you will see what harms you and what will make you forget the horrors you have seen," Abu Hamza al-Quraishi said, apparently threatening attacks of unprecedented scope.</p>.<p>AFP could not immediately authenticate the message but the recording was published via the group's usual social media channels.</p>.<p>The jihadist organisation once administered a sprawling self-proclaimed "caliphate" straddling big parts of Syria and Iraq, where it minted a currency, levied taxes and ran school curricula.</p>.<p>Under pressure from combined military operations by Syrian and Iraqi forces supported by their respective allies, the proto-state collapsed last year.</p>.<p>IS has remained a potent outfit in its Euphrates heartland and surrounding desert hideouts however and its franchises in Africa and Asia have also continued to expand their attacks.</p>.<p>The group also has a presence in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, which borders Israel and which the Jewish state occupied for 15 years after the 1967 war.</p>.<p>The spokesman said IS leader Quraishi was "determined, and has encouraged his mujahideen brothers in all provinces, and Muslims across the world," to launch "a new phase".</p>.<p>That new focus "is fighting the Jews and reclaiming what they have stolen from the the Muslims, and this cannot be reclaimed except through fighting," he said.</p>
<p>The Islamic State group vowed to turn to Israel as the main target of its attacks, according to a purported audio message of its spokesman released on Monday.</p>.<p>Abu Hamza al-Quraishi said IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi encourages the group's fighters to launch "a new phase" and vowed major operations against Israel.</p>.<p>"The eyes of the soldiers of the caliphate, wherever they are, are still on Jerusalem," the spokesman said in the 37-minute message.</p>.<p>"And in the coming days, God willing, you will see what harms you and what will make you forget the horrors you have seen," Abu Hamza al-Quraishi said, apparently threatening attacks of unprecedented scope.</p>.<p>AFP could not immediately authenticate the message but the recording was published via the group's usual social media channels.</p>.<p>The jihadist organisation once administered a sprawling self-proclaimed "caliphate" straddling big parts of Syria and Iraq, where it minted a currency, levied taxes and ran school curricula.</p>.<p>Under pressure from combined military operations by Syrian and Iraqi forces supported by their respective allies, the proto-state collapsed last year.</p>.<p>IS has remained a potent outfit in its Euphrates heartland and surrounding desert hideouts however and its franchises in Africa and Asia have also continued to expand their attacks.</p>.<p>The group also has a presence in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, which borders Israel and which the Jewish state occupied for 15 years after the 1967 war.</p>.<p>The spokesman said IS leader Quraishi was "determined, and has encouraged his mujahideen brothers in all provinces, and Muslims across the world," to launch "a new phase".</p>.<p>That new focus "is fighting the Jews and reclaiming what they have stolen from the the Muslims, and this cannot be reclaimed except through fighting," he said.</p>