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Will Palestinian Islamic Jihad Drag Gaza into a War Against Israel?
(Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University) Yoram Schweitzer and Aviad Mendelboim - Over the past year, Islamic Jihad has intensified its independent military actions from Gaza against Israel, including rocket and sniper fire. Its activities are not fully coordinated with Hamas and at times are even undertaken contrary to Hamas' position. Some of its actions are carried out at the initiative of senior local activists, at times against the backdrop of internal conflicts. The change in the organization's leadership with the appointment of Ziad al-Nakhla to replace Ramadan Shalah in September 2018 has contributed to the radicalization of its positions and to the implementation of a more aggressive policy. Islamic Jihad now has 6,000 combatants deployed in Gaza equipped with rockets and advanced Iranian ordnance. Yoram Schweitzer heads the Program on Terrorism and Low-Intensity Conflict at INSS, where Aviad Mendelboim is a research assistant.