Bin Laden message: Stop 'aggression' against Gaza

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(CNN) -- Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has apparently released a new audio message calling for a jihad, or holy war, against Israel for its Gaza campaign.

The message is "an invitation" from bin Laden to take part in "jihad to stop the aggression against Gaza."

The audio message was posted on a radical Islamist Web site known for posting statements from bin Laden.

CNN could not independently confirm the authenticity of the message, but the speaker's voice was similar to recordings that bin Laden has made in the past.

The last time bin Laden released an audio message was in mid-May, timed to coincide with Israel's 60th anniversary. That message urged his followers to liberate Palestine.

Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza on December 27 to stop rocket strikes on southern Israel. The death toll in Gaza was nearing 1,000, including more than 300 children, according to Palestinian medical sources.

The Israeli toll stood at 13, including three civilians.

 Bin Laden, whose approximate age is 51, is the head of al Qaeda terrorist network which was responsible for the September 11, 2001, attack on the United States that killed 2,751 people.

Bin Laden has been in hiding since the U.S. assault on Afghanistan that followed the 9/11 attacks. The U.S. government is offering a $25 million reward for information leading to bin Laden's capture.

President Bush, whose term ends next week, told CNN's Larry King on Tuesday that he remains optimistic that bin Laden would be found.

King asked Bush, "Are we ever going to find bin Laden?"

"Yes, of course, absolutely," Bush replied. "We've got a lot of people out there looking for him, a lot of assets. You can't run forever."

The message is important to the incoming U.S. president because it signifies that bin Laden is still "out there," said Tim Roemer, the former Democratic congressman from Indiana who served on both the congressional and the presidential September 11 commissions.

"It's a reminder of President-elect (Barack) Obama's inheritance of some of the difficult problems out there that he has to confront," said Roemer, who is president of the Center for National Policy.

"Al Qaeda is trying to be relevant with this tape," Roemer said. "They seek competition with Hamas, Hezbollah, the ongoing battle between Israel and the Palestinians ...

"This reminds us of what bin Laden said right after 9/11. He said it wasn't 19 Arab armies or 19 Arab states that attacked the United States. It was 19 post-graduate students. It reminds us how much the world has changed, and how many different threats are out there today."