The White House Wednesday condemned the latest chilling Islamic State video showing the killing of a Palestinian man by a boy at the direction of another man.
The boy shoots the Palestinian man in the head after the other man in the video praises him for having the courage to do so.
“Here are the young lions of the caliphate,” the man declares before the boy fires his gun.
“This is an abhorrent and unjustifiable action,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. “The apparent compelling of a child to execute another individual is but further testament of ISIL’s disregard for all human decency.”
Earnest said the timing of the video’s release is a desperate move on the Islamic State’s part as evidence mounts that the extreme terrorist group is growing more desperate.
“ISIL chose to broadcast the video at this time that we’re also hearing more and more reports of internal dissent within its ranks,” Earnest said, “and more reports of individuals being executed for fleeing the front and attempting to defect.”
“This is indicative of the broader pressure that ISIL is under right now,” Earnest said, using an acronym meaning “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” to refer to the Sunni fundamentalist terror group — which commands the allegiance of Islamists in Libya, Yemen, Nigeria and other nations, in addition to its large zone of control in Iraq and Syria. He said the group is weakening as a result of the U.S.-led coalition’s strategy.
French authorities are reportedly looking into whether the Islamic State soldier in the video is related to an extremist who attacked a Jewish school in southern France in 2012.
The man in the video speaks with a southern French accent and investigators believe he may be related to Mohammed Merah, who allegedly killed seven people in attacks on a Jewish school in the south of France in March 2012, exactly three years ago.
In the video, released late Tuesday, the man praises attacks on Jews “in your own stronghold in France.”
