Israel's Pre-emptive Offensive Against Palestinian Islamic Jihad

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Yoni Ben Menachem - According to Palestinian officials in Gaza, senior members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Damascus and Lebanon went underground following the death of Ali Ramzi Alaswad, 31, a senior member of PIJ in Damascus, on March 19, 2023. Foreign sources said that agents of the Israeli Mossad killed him. It appears that Israel has launched pre-emptive strikes on Islamic Jihad ahead of Ramadan to reduce the terrorist attacks it is planning against Israeli targets. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alluded to the Israeli policy of preempting a new intifada when he told the weekly cabinet meeting, "Dozens of terrorists have been eliminated in the past month; many others have been arrested. I reiterate: whoever tries to harm Israeli citizens will pay the price. We will find the terrorists and the architects of terrorism everywhere." According to well-informed sources, Israel has decided to renew the targeted killing of senior members of the terrorist organizations in Syria and Lebanon that operate in the West Bank and Gaza. The operations are quiet and carried out without Israeli fingerprints or taking responsibility. Under the guidance of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Hizbullah and the Palestinian terrorist organizations are preparing for a new wave of terrorism during Ramadan. According to senior security officials, the man responsible for establishing nine new armed terrorist groups in the northern West Bank is Akram Al-Ajouri, the head of Islamic Jihad's military wing. On November 13, 2019, Israel tried to kill Al-Ajouri at his home in Damascus. Israel has a bank of targets at the top of the terrorist organizations: senior terrorists who plan to harm Israel's citizens and its security forces.


2023-03-23 00:00:00

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