JaFaJ

08.11.2022

The ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic Jihad has taken effect in the Gaza Strip after days of cross-border fighting triggered by Israeli airstrikes. Israel said its aerial bombardment was a pre-emptive action aimed at preventing rocket attacks planned by Islamic Jihad militants against Israeli targets.
In retaliation for the airstrikes, Islamic Jihad militants fired more than 1,000 rockets at Israel, forcing residents to flee to bomb shelters. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a televised statement that the entire senior military command of Islamic Jihad was successfully eliminated and all of Israel’s goals were achieved.
 

 

Islamic Jihad is a relatively small armed group compared to Hamas which rules Gaza. Even so, Islamic Jihad is proving to be the most prominent threat emerging from Gaza for Israel. Last year, Islamic Jihad emerged as a dark horse. Despite losing top operatives as well as military infrastructure, Islamic Jihad managed to keep firing a large barrage of rockets until a ceasefire came into effect.
Islamic Jihad was founded in 1981 as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite being operational for more than four decades, Islamic Jihad remains one of the most important yet least understood Palestinian armed factions. The group has emerged as the second-largest armed movement in the Gaza Strip. The group has a reputation for being small and highly secretive, which makes it less prone to infiltration by Israeli intelligence services. Islamic Jihad consists of a leadership council and a military wing, called the Al-Quds Brigades. But unlike other militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad focuses exclusively on military activity and wishes to be seen as an elite vanguard rather than a broad community-based movement. Islamic Jihad is also opposed to any political engagement with Israel.
Hamas, which gained full control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, is often limited in its ability to act militarily against Israel because it bears responsibility for running the day-to-day affairs of Gaza. The coastal enclave is often in the news because of its humanitarian hardships. Islamic Jihad has no such limitations and has emerged as the more militant and radical faction, often undermining Hamas’ authority. Islamic Jihad has become the driving force in rocket-fire confrontations with Israel. In recent times, Islamic Jihad has tried to outflank Hamas by presenting itself as a more radical opponent of Israel.
In fact, according to Israeli media reports, the group is already winning in the firepower stakes. Meaning that while Hamas is believed to have far more long-range and precise rockets, Islamic Jihad is in possession of some 8,000 short-range rockets including some anti-tank missiles. Most of its weapons are now locally produced in Gaza, and in recent years it has developed an arsenal to rival that of Hamas, including some longer-range rockets capable of striking Tel Aviv.
Islamic Jihad’s strategy to confront Israel is simple: it tries to overwhelm the Israeli state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defence system by the sheer volume of simultaneously fired projectiles. Many of its rockets are so cheap and easy to manufacture, in some cases requiring little more than a metal casing and an explosive, that the group has managed to accumulate them in significant numbers. So, even if Israel successfully stops all outward weapons supplies coming into Gaza — Islamic Jihad’s homegrown capabilities will allow it to bombard Israel with rocket fire for weeks, if not months. Islamic Jihad has moved towards entirely indigenous production, often manufacturing both the weapons and explosives out of raw materials readily available in the Gaza Strip.
Islamic Jihad leadership firmly believes that it has nothing to lose and everything to gain by escalating tensions with Israel as it will be seen as the leading resistance movement against the Zionist state. The Gaza Strip is currently suffering from an acute economic crisis. The cost of living is high, and unemployment is spiraling. So, Hamas rightly believes, at least for now, that calm is required to allow the people of Gaza some breathing space. Hamas now wants to strengthen its regime by improving the living conditions for Gazans and then slowly increase its influence on the West Bank by showcasing itself as an efficient administrator.
If Hamas tries to stop and curtail Islamic Jihad, it will be accused of collaborating with Israel. This leaves the leaders of Hamas caught between a rock and a hard place. But if Hamas lets Islamic Jihad carry on with its operations against Israel, that will likely lead to a harsh Israeli response. Nevertheless, Hamas will soon have to make tough choices, and this means taking effective measures to curtail Islamic Jihad’s crusade against Israel which could get messy.

MANISH RAI
MANISHRAIVA@GMAIL.COM

Manish Rai is a geopolitical analyst and columnist for the Middle East and Af-Pak region and the editor of geopolitical news agency ViewsAround (VA). He has done reporting from Jordon, Iran, and Afghanistan. His work has been quoted in the British Parliament.

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With its traditional terrorist foe taking a back seat, the Israeli government needed to explain the dangers presented to its state from scratch.

By MICHAEL STARR – The Jerusalem Post
Published: AUGUST 10, 2022 21:28
 

A FOREIGN MINISTRY graphic gives background to Islamic Jihad.
(photo credit: MFA/TWITTER)

After decades of casting Hamas as Israel’s main threat in the south, Israel launched its first operation in Gaza against Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

This comes with its own challenges on the public diplomacy front. With its traditional terrorist foe taking a back seat, the Israeli government needed to explain the dangers presented to its state from scratch.

Casual observers are largely familiar with the name Hamas, and have associated with it rocket attacks and suicide bombings. Hamas is widely recognized as a brand-name terrorist organization and few see it in a positive light. The evils of Hamas were in mind with every Israeli operation in Gaza, affording some legitimacy to the IDF’s actions.

Until now, international audiences have been far less familiar with PIJ than they have been with Hamas. PIJ doesn’t control the Gaza Strip and without a litany of crimes, the IDF could be granted less leeway by observers in its military actions when engaging with them.

Based on videos put out by the IDF and Foreign Affairs Ministry, Israel chose to brand PIJ as the illegitimate proxy of a hostile foreign nation, akin to Al Qaeda, separate from Palestinians and as much a danger to them as they are to Israelis.

Palestinian Islamic jihad militants display rockets during a military show marking the 32nd anniversary of the organisation’s founding, in the central Gaza Strip October 3, 2019. (credit: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS) 

‘Who is the Islamic Jihad in Gaza?’
Four hours prior to the beginning of Operation Breaking Dawn, the ministry released a video explaining PIJ’s background.

“Who is the Islamic Jihad in Gaza?” Asked the video. “A terrorist organization operating under the leadership of Iran,” was the lede.

Graphics published by official Israeli international channels also emphasized the clear connections to Iran.

“They follow an extreme Islamic ideology,” said the August 5, ministry video. “The organization was established as part of a global Jihad phenomenon, which includes Al Qaeda and Hezbollah. The Islamic Jihad in Gaza is a recognized terror organization by the European Union, UK, United States, Japan, Canada and Australia.”

Though it is odd to put Hezbollah and Al Qaeda as part of the same network, the comparison to Al Qaeda seems intentionally salient. On August 2, the US killed Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a targeted strike, much in the same fashion as Tayseer Jabari was targeted at the outset of the war. Both were presented as leaders of radical Islamic terrorist organizations responsible for the deaths of civilians.

“We just targeted a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group in Gaza,” announced the IDF on August 5. “Tayseer Jabari was responsible for multiple terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.”

Palestinian Islamic Jihad
THROUGHOUT THE Israeli content on the war, “Palestinian” was almost never mentioned in relation to Islamic Jihad – even removing it from the group’s name. With some exceptions, it was almost always referred to as “Islamic Jihad in Gaza,” in the same way one might refer to a branch of Islamic State or Al Qaeda.

The terrorist organization is presented as distinct from Palestinians, likely not only to delegitimize them but to develop a narrative that the military operation would not be against Palestinians but an alien body among them.

“Islamic Jihad in Gaza is solely a military organization, not a governmental movement, and has no intention of leading the Palestinians,” said the initial ministry video.

If Palestinians were mentioned in relation to Islamic Jihad, it was only when noting the danger that the organization presented to them.

“Tonight, Islamic Jihad terrorists fired a rocket towards Israel, which fell short inside Gaza, hitting a Palestinian home in the Jabaliya neighborhood and tragically killing at least four children,” said Prime Minister Office International Spokeswoman Keren Hajioff, on Sunday. “Islamic Jihad is killing Palestinian children in Gaza.”

It is likely that there were at least two other rocket misfires that killed Palestinians and it appears that PIJ killed more Gazan civilians than Israel.

As much as Israel worked to brand Islamic Jihad, the terrorist group played directly into Israel’s messaging with its actions like those in Jabaliya, and Israel was quick to seize on their blunders.

The government and military shared multiple graphics and videos of the incident, and emphasized the phenomenon of rocket misfires in the Gaza Strip. Footage of other rocket misfires, such as those missing a Palestinian news team, were shared via the Israel Twitter account.

These videos gained hundreds of thousands of views all together. This operation, the anti-Israel outrage seemed muted.

PIJ’s actions and Israeli branding seem to have successfully branded the group as a danger to Palestinians. It remains to be seen in future conflicts if they were successful in establishing Islamic Jihad as a foe that threatens Israel, as well, and warrants future military action.

The writer is a news desk manager at The Jerusalem Post.

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Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs – Iran Desk
 August 10, 2022 – for article reference – click here

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IGRC) commander, Major General Hossein Salami (left), and PIJ leader Ziad al-Nakhalah in Iran. 

Even before Israel’s Operation Breaking Dawn in Gaza was launched, Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Secretary-General Ziad Nakhalah was in Tehran to meet with top regime officials and military commanders.
The Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), commented1 on August 6, 2022, on the unfolding events. The agency doubted that the clash between Nakhalah’s organization and Israel would become a large-scale war. It said Israel’s military strategy would not permit its government to continue the conflict. Instead, “it is the resistance that should make the most of the current opportunity.”
Nakhalah came to Iran on August 2, the day Israel arrested top Islamic Jihad official Bassam al-Saadi in the Jenin refugee camp. Nakhalah received the news of the arrest of Al-Saadi and his son-in-law, Ashraf Aljada, as he was preparing for his first meeting in Tehran. His host for that meeting was Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, foreign minister in the government of President Ebrahim Raisi.
Nakhalah went to additional meetings before the IDF’s operation in Gaza began. On August 3, he met with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, chair of the Iranian parliament, and Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran’s spiritual leader Ali Khamenei.2
On August 6, the Iranian foreign minister called Nakhalah3 to share his condemnation of Israel for launching the operation. Amir-Abdollahian told Nakhalah that Israel’s latest “savage attacks” were aimed at creating a crisis in Gaza to divert attention from Israel’s own “multilayered crises.”
Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said4 at the onset of the operation, “Iran strongly condemns the Zionist apartheid regime’s barbaric offensive against Gaza, and it is the legal right of the Palestinian people and the resistance organizations to defend themselves against the Zionist regime’s aggression and acts of terror.”
Kanaani said, “In its savage onslaught,” Israel had “killed resistance commanders and helpless Palestinians, and the fledgling [Lapid] regime, which likes to create adventures and take provocative steps, is responsible for this crime and thus for the consequences of the aggression as well.”
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson added that Tehran was calling on all countries and international organizations “to fulfill their legal, moral, and human responsibility and protect the oppressed Palestinian nation and denounce the Zionist regime’s acts of terror. They must also prevent the continuation of the crimes of this regime, which is the main cause of the instability and insecurity in the region.”
Gen. Esmail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC, also slammed Israel’s operation. At an Ashura religious ceremony in the northern province of Mazandaran, Qaani spoke at length5 about the tension between Israel and Gaza. He boasted that “at least 15 operations are carried out daily against the Israeli positions,” but he did not elaborate.
The Quds Force commander Qaani, August 6, 2022. (Tasnim News)
Qaani continued: “Palestinians have struck Israel hard, and it is collapsing, and every day we see that the Zionist regime’s confidence level is declining. Palestinian fighters are planning to strike the final blows to this rotten body. As always, Iran will stand beside the oppressed Palestinian fighters. Children who were educated in Islam in the occupied territories, in Gaza, and in Lebanon are faithful to the teaching of the imams and the doctrine of the revolution. The United States and Israel cannot stand against these heroes.”
Qaani added: “The children of Islam in the occupied territories have achieved self-sufficiency and will confront Israel until the victory is complete. The enemies must know that we will never ignore their deeds and crimes against the region’s oppressed people and everywhere else. Indeed, in many cases, the enemy has suffered the response in a very short time, but for each of his steps for which he still has not suffered the response he deserves, we have a plan.”
On August 6, the second day of Operation Breaking Dawn, Nakhalah met separately with President Raisi and IRGC Commander Hossein Salami.
According to the Fars News Agency, also affiliated with the IRGC, Salami told his guest:
The liberation of the Palestinian people is more than just a wish for us; it is a basic strategy. If it were just a heartfelt wish, it would not be defined as an actual objective. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini [founder of the Islamic Republic] and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader, taught us to see it as a goal and a strategy that will lead to liberating holy Quds [Jerusalem] and to restoring the lost, occupied lands of Palestine to their original owners.6
PIJ leader Ziad al-Nakhalah (left, without a mask) and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. (President. ir)
Salami told Nakhalah, “The course of developments in occupied Palestine and the attrition of the Zionists’ power, which is heading for collapse, are irreversible as we move closer to the goal. The power of the Palestinian resistance has grown compared to the past, and now, taking into account its potential capabilities, we see that the resistance has [also] found the right way to wage large-scale wars.”
The IRGC commander told the Islamic Jihad secretary-general:
Important, zealous, senior Israeli officials such as Ehud Barak, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Naftali Bennett have already acknowledged the helplessness and imminent collapse of their regime. International experts also note this and stress that Israel can no longer withstand the undeniable facts on the ground. Israel’s weakness grows as Palestine gains strength. They are weak psychologically and see a black and frightening future, so some prefer to leave. That is, reverse migration. When they collapse from within, there may be no need for a war.
We stand by your side until the end, and Palestine and Palestinians should know that they are not alone. Israel’s latest operation has killed and wounded many, especially innocent children. Undoubtedly, the rapid response to this crime by the Islamic Palestinian resistance shows that a new stage has begun as the resistance intensifies. Israel will pay a heavy price for this crime.
In conclusion, Salami expressed hope for “a quickening of the processes leading to the victory of Palestine.” He added, “The achievement of effective military force alters the balance of terror and constitutes a guarantee for the success of the rebellion and the Islamic resistance of Palestine. Your people also stand by you, and you will be able to gain even more strength and overcome the other side from the human, spiritual, and military standpoints.”

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