The IDF’s ” Breaking Dawn” operation against the Islamic Jihad began yesterday afternoon with a surprise attack by the Israeli Air Force on senior operatives of the military wing of the Islamic Jihad who were planning attacks on the Israeli settlements near the border of the Gaza Strip using anti-tank missiles and snipers
Several terrorist operatives were killed in the attack, led by Taysir Al-Jabari, the commander of the northern brigade of the Islamic Jihad, who planned these terrorist attacks in response to the arrest of the organization’s senior activist, Basam al-Saadi, in Jenin.
Sources in the Gaza Strip reported 10 people died in the attack
Following this, the Islamic Jihad organization responded by firing rockets at Israel, from last night until today more than 160 rockets were fired at several cities in Israel, in response the IDF attacked positions and installations of the Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF is careful to leave the Hamas organization out of the picture and does not attack Hamas targets.
Meanwhile Hamas sits on the fence and is content with condemnations and threats, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh spoke with senior Egyptian intelligence officials and demanded the immediate cessation of the IDF bombings in the Gaza Strip.
The US, Egypt and the UN are holding intensive talks to bring about a ceasefire and restore calm, the US backs up Israel and its right to self-defense.
The IDF continues the arrest operation of Islamic Jihad operatives in the West Bank and Israel rejects the demand to stop it and release the senior Islamic Jihad leader Basam al-Saadi who was arrested in Jenin.
Israel has several achievements so far:
A. Israel managed to surprise the Islamic Jihad which tried to create a new equation and launch several terrorist attacks against the Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip.
B. Israel thwarted the terrorist attacks planned by the Islamic Jihad and assassinated the senior terrorist who planned them thanks to accurate intelligence.
C. Hamas sits on the fence and currently does not participate in the fighting
The mission of the IDF is to continue the effort to prevent the Hamas organization from entering the fighting and to increase the military pressure on the Islamic Jihad so that it agrees to a ceasefire.
Currently, the organization insists on continuing to fire rockets at Israel.
The security establishment should be well prepared for the possibility of violent incidents breaking out in the Arab sector in Israel and in the mixed cities .
As the military operation in the Gaza Strip prolongs and the number of Palestinian casualties increases, it is likely that the Arabs of Israel will not sit quietly.
The restoration of the IDF’s deterrent power against the Islamic Jihad is very important and the military pressure on it in the West Bank and the Strip must not stop
Yoni Ben Menachem
Senior Middle East Analyst
