The leader of Al Qaeda's Yemen branch has threatened both United States President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk over Israel's war on Gaza in his first video message since taking over the group last year.

The half-hour video message by Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki, which spread online early Saturday via supporters of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, also included calls for lone-wolf militants to assassinate leaders in Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf Arab states over the war, which has decimated Gaza.

The video of al-Awlaki's speech showed images of Trump and Musk, as well as US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of State Pete Hegseth. It also included images of logos of Musk's businesses, including the electric carmaker Tesla.

“There are no red lines after what happened and is happening to our people in Gaza," al-Awlaki said. "Reciprocity is legitimate.”

Though believed to be weakened in recent years due to infighting and suspected US drone strikes killing its leaders, the group known by the acronym AQAP had been considered the most dangerous branch of Al Qaeda still operating after the 2011 killing by US Navy SEALs of founder Osama bin Laden.

In 2022, a US drone strike in Afghanistan killed bin Laden's successor, Ayman al-Zawahri, who helped plot 9/11. The Sept. 11 attacks then began decades of war by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq, and fomented the rise of Daesh.

Call for attacks

Al-Awlaki already has a $6 million US bounty on his head, as Washington says al-Awlaki “has publicly called for attacks against the United States and its allies.” He replaced AQAP leader Khalid al-Batarfi, whose death was announced by the group in 2024.

AQAP’s position on the Israel-Hamas war mirrors that of Yemen's Houthis. The Iranian-backed group has launched missile attacks on Israel and targeted commercial vessels moving through the Red Sea corridor, as well as American warships. The US Navy has described its campaign against the Houthis as the most intense combat it has faced since World War II.

The Trump administration also launched its own intense campaign of strikes on the Houthis, which only ended before the president's recent trip to the Middle East.