Israel, Palestinian Jihad Dig In for Prolonged Combat - Will Extend Beyond Gaza

Israel, Palestinian Jihad dig in for prolonged combat. Tel Aviv targeted

DEBKA

Both sides were digging in for a drawn-out conflict on Saturday, Aug. 6, Day Two of the IDF’s counter terror Operation Sunrise against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). “We have not yet used our long-range rockets,” said the jihadists after shooting 200 missiles. The Iron Dome defense system scored 95pc interceptions, conspicuously exhibiting major upgrades in its performance. Up until Saturday evening, the Palestinian rocket barrages missed their mark, except for damage to a house in Sderot, whose occupants stayed safe in their shelter.

Saturday evening saw the first rocket barrage against Tel Aviv. 

Although the IDF marked out a 80km radius safety zone from the Gaza Strip, including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the towns in between, the PIJ mostly refrained from aiming rockets at central Israel. However, a spokesman for the terrorist group warned that its long-range rockets were still unused. While refraining from an explicit threat to wield them, he indicated that there was more fighting to come.

The same message came from Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi on Saturday morning, when he forecast that the operation would last “a week at least” after the IDF called up 25,000 reservists. 

A wave of detentions of their top operatives on the West Bank preceded Operation Sunrise and continued Saturday with another 19 arrests, including the high-profile Najah Habayba, a former Israeli jail inmate.

The ultimate objective of the IDF operation is not yet clear. 

Caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid will no doubt be taxed with this question when he briefs the opposition leader, former PM Binyamin Netanyahu, on Sunday. Will the military be satisfied with breaking the back of the PIJ’s military strength in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, thereby amputating one of Tehran’s primary terrorist arm against Israel before calling it a day? Or will the group’s core be left crippled but alive when the operation ends?

Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned that the conflict would not be confined to the Gaza Strip but also reach Jihadist leaders “who sit in restaurants” in Tehran, Syria and Lebanon.

For now, Hamas has stayed outside the confrontation. 

Egypt’s diplomatic efforts to negotiate a ceasefire were rebuffed by Jihad, whose leader, Ziyad Nahla on Saturday sat down in Tehran with the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami. Iranian Arabic language media reported that the two discussed “Israel’s aggression in the Gaza Strip” and ways of “fortifying Palestinian resistance.”

Nahla told reporters: “Our resistance will go on alongside other groups. We are capable of a delivering a fitting response to any blow.” Salami was quoted by Iranian TV as saying, ‘Israel will pay a heavy price for its aggression in Gaza.”