JERUSALEM – Israeli officers say air strikes on Gaza have focused the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) motion quite than Hamas, the militant group which guidelines the enclave. What's the distinction between the 2 teams?
The PIJ is a militant group allied with Hamas, each with a background within the Muslim Brotherhood, a shared hostility to Israel and an ideological dedication to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state.
However the two teams have separate identities and a few variations.
Whereas Hamas leaders have made statements softening their dedication to the destruction of Israel, the smaller PIJ has made no such transfer and rejects any compromises with Israel.
On Friday, as he defined the airstrikes on Israeli tv, Prime Minister Yair Lapid described the group as “an Iranian proxy that desires to destroy the state of Israel”,
Whereas it doesn't have as many long-range rockets as Hamas, PIJ does have a major arsenal of small arms, mortars, rockets and anti tank missiles and an lively armed wing referred to as the Al Quds, or Jerusalem Brigades, that has attacked many Israeli targets over time.
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Friday’s air strikes killed Tayseer al-Jaabari, a senior commander who Israel stated was the commander of the motion’s northern area, answerable for planning assaults in opposition to Israeli residents and navy targets.
Up-to-date figures on PIJ‘s energy are tough to return by, with estimates from final yr starting from about 1,000 to a number of thousand, in keeping with the CIA‘s World Factbook.
Each Hamas, which has fought 5 conflicts with Israel since 2009, and PIJ are listed as terrorist organisations by the West. Each get funds and weapons from Iran, the place PIJ chief Ziyad al-Nakhalah was reported to have been assembly Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on the day of the strikes.
Not like Hamas, PIJ refuses to affix elections and seems to haven't any ambition to type a authorities in Gaza or the West Financial institution.
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It maintains a major presence within the West Financial institution city of Jenin, the place Bassam al-Saadi, a senior chief of the motion was arrested final week, setting off the disaster that led to Friday’s strikes.
Nonetheless its give attention to militant exercise means it doesn't have something like the identical infrastructure or duties as Hamas, which has dominated Gaza since 2007, in command of authorities and day-to-day wants of greater than 2.3 million individuals.
Little greater than a yr because the 11-day struggle of Could 2021, which inflicted enormous injury on Gaza’s economic system, Israel’s express give attention to PIJ targets seems supposed to persuade Hamas to remain out of the preventing itself.
Zvika Haimovich, a former commander of the Israel Air Protection Forces who served in earlier operations in opposition to Gaza in 2012 and 2014, stated there have been vital disagreements with PIJ that might make Hamas keep out.
“The direct instant curiosity of Hamas is to not be a part of this operation,” he stated.
“If Hamas joins this operation it can change completely the state of affairs that we're speaking about.”
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