For almost a year, Palestinian Islamic Jihad was largely absent from Iran’s media and political push. Now Iran is back, talking about Islamic Jihad in the media, a day after Ankara’s press also highlighted the group. The articles do not appear to be a coincidence, because the group claimed it was “mobilizing” in Gaza over the weekend.
After conflict with Israel in 2019, PIJ suffered setbacks and was also concerned about threats to its leadership. Baha Abu Al-Ata had been killed in November by an Israeli airstrike and Syrian reports said that the home of its deputy leader Akram al-Ajouri had also been targeted. Iran follows the group closely; PIJ is believed to be an Iranian proxy, armed, advised and provided cash and technical assistance over the years by Tehran. It is Iran’s footprint in Gaza, and perhaps its eyes and ears as well.
The terrorist group also provides Iran leverage and options, including plausible deniability should Iran want to test Israel. That appears clear from how the group has offices in Gaza and Damascus, two key fronts for Tehran against Jerusalem.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is frequently in contact with Islamic Jihad. Last year he called PIJ leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah to support its attacks on Israel. He spoke to the group or put out statements linked to it in February and July of this year. Today Iran is angry about the Israel-Sudan agreement and highlights Hamas opposition to the agreement.
Iran’s Fars News says that the Islamic Jihad “military branch” Saraya al-Quds had announced an alert and mobilization over the weekend. Ostensibly the reason for this was the deterioration in the health of Maher al-Akhras who is on hunger strike. Akhras, a 49-year-old from the West Bank, has been on hunger strike for three months.
The “mobilization” of Islamic Jihad’s fighters appears to be the second time in 48 hours the group has gotten front page coverage in Turkey and Iran, showing that it is pushing for relevance against a year in which it was relatively quiet after the November clashes with Israel. It is not clear if this is because Iran and Turkey want to highlight and use the group, or if it is at the group’s own initiative.
It is not as simple as just a cycle of escalation related to the hunger strike. The statement by PIJ in Turkey was about France, and another statement recently condemned the Israel-Sudan discussions. This illustrates that the group is seeking to push messages regionally and find an excuse locally to confront Israel.
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