The Israel Defense Forces caused significant damage to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization over the weekend, according to Israeli officials.
Operation Breaking Dawn was seen as a tactical success as Israel took the rare opportunity to preemptively strike the terrorists and take out top PIJ commanders on the ground.
The Israeli army launched the first airstrikes after indications of an imminent PIJ anti-tank guided missile attack against Israeli civilians or soldiers on the border. Israel’s strikes killed PIJ’s north Gaza commander, Tayseer Jabari. The attack was precise, hitting the apartment the terror commander was in from the side in an attempt to reduce civilian casualties.
The IDF revealed that the strike was called off a number of times in order to ensure the safety of children who were playing in the area. The terror commander was located inside a residential building that was next to a playground. The terrorists were using civilians as human shields in order to deter the Israelis and ensure that if Israel did strike them then the civilian casualties would be maximized.
Israel was well aware of this and released footage of their strike being halted on a number of occasions because children were in the area. You can watch the video below.
Over the last 3 days the IDF carried out precision strikes against Islamic Jihad.
Many were delayed or aborted to prevent civilian casualties.
WATCH as this strike against a senior Islamic Jihad commander was delayed last night because of children in the area: pic.twitter.com/ZnSTzGOdp4
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 7, 2022
The IDF did all it could to save civilians. Sadly, a child was killed in the strike, and a family of Palestinians was injured as they were located in the apartment below the target and are currently being treated in hospital.
In a briefing wrapping up the 66-hour Operation Breaking Dawn, the IDF said they struck 170 targets, using fighter jets, armed drones, combat helicopters, and artillery, according to the briefing.
The targets included 17 observation posts (six of which were manned by PIJ operatives), 45 rocket and mortar launching sites, eight military camps, eight weapon caches, six weapon production facilities, three targets related to the PIJ’s naval force, and an “attack tunnel.” Another major airstrike on the second night of the operation resulted in the PIJ’s south Gaza commander, Khaled Mansour, being killed.
In the end the Israel Defense Forces said it “significantly damaged Palestinian Islamic Jihad and its leadership.”
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OPERATIONAL RECAP:Aug 5:
🔺4:16pm – IDF targets Tayseer Jabari, Islamic Jihad’s Northern Gaza Division Commanding Officer & other Islamic Jihad terrorists
🔺4:32pm – IDF announces Operation “Breaking Dawn”
🔺7:02pm – IDF targets Islamic Jihad terrorist and military posts— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 6, 2022
The IDF said the most significant target of the operation was an attack tunnel it hit on early Sunday. The military said the tunnel, built several meters underground from the southern Gaza city of Rafah, was to be used to “enter and attack Israel by surprise.” The IDF said the tunnel did not cross into Israeli territory, as Israel has a high-tech belowground wall guarding its frontier with Gaza from attack tunnels, which once threatened southern towns.
The tunnel was Mansour’s “flagship” project, according to a senior IDF officer.
PIJ’s response was as expected, indiscriminate rocket fire toward civilians. A criminal act of terrorism that should be condemned by all. Not only were Palestinian Islamic Jihad operates firing from within civilian populations, but they were also firing toward civilian populations. This is a double war crime.
Additionally, the Palestinian terrorist rockets were so inaccurate that the majority of Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza were a result of Palestinian terror, not Israeli strikes.
A significant part of Israel’s attack was to strike PIJ when the terror group, which is controlled by Iran, had its leaders in Tehran meeting Iranian government officials. The terrorists who were killed in Gaza were commanders of military forces, not leaders or figureheads of the group. Israel was sending a message to PIJ leaders in Iran and to the Iranian regime itself. And we think they got the message.
Israel will be pleased with this victory. It managed to significantly damage Palestinian Islamic Jihad within a short period of time and without drawing Hamas into the conflict. They wiped out terror infrastructure and terror leaders with minimal civilian casualties on both sides of the conflict. And, for the most part, the international media has not been as condemning of Israel as they usually are. It was a victory, but there is far more to be done to stop Palestinian terror.
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