The group also claims to have links to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group also has links to Hamas in the Gaza Strip through a Gaza-based Islamic cleric who also has ties to the Syria-based Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which is a coalition of 5 Syrian rebel groups including Jabhat Fateh al-Sham which is the successor organization to Jabhat al-Nusra that until 2016 was al-Qaeda's official branch in Syria, and has supported and maintained relations with Jund al-Islam through the Gaza cleric who acts as an intermediary between the two.