(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Yoni Ben Menachem - After arming Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Iran moved in the last year to support the new terrorist groups in the northern West Bank. Iran has been pouring money into the Islamic Jihad organization, which began to establish new armed groups including the "Jenin Battalion," the "Nablus Battalion," the "Tulkarem Battalion," the "Tubas Battalion," and the "Balata Battalion." This follows a meeting in August, after the IDF military operation against Islamic Jihad in Gaza, where Revolutionary Guards Maj.-Gen. Hossein Salami hosted Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziyad Al-Nakhallah and agreed to strengthen Islamic Jihad activities in the northern West Bank. Salami announced that Iran will arm the "resistance" forces in the West Bank as it did in Gaza and that the process has already begun. The head of IDF Intelligence, Maj.-Gen. Aharon Haliva, has confirmed Iran's involvement in the current wave of terrorism in the West Bank. The activity in the West Bank is another step in the tightening of Iran's stranglehold around Israel.
2022-12-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive