This week, Israel sent a clear message to the terrorists in Gaza: It doesn’t matter how high profile you are within a terrorist organisation, if you seek to harm Israel, you will be targeted.
On Tuesday, Israel targeted three Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist commanders in a surprise attack against PIJ. Then, after terrorists fired over 300 rockets towards Israeli civilian populations, on Thursday, Israel eliminated two more terror commanders who were directly responsible for recent rocket attacks.
The five PIJ terror commanders and their roles within PIJ are as follows:
Khalil Bahitini, Senior Operation Officer of PIJ in Gaza. Bahitini was responsible for PIJ rocket attacks from Gaza towards Israel in the south. He was responsible for approving and carrying out all terrorist actions in Northern Gaza towards Israel. He was also a member of PIJ’s military council and had active contact with senior members of PIJ’s political buereau.
Jahed Ahnam, PIJ’s Military Council Secretary. Ahnam was one of the most senior members of the PIJ terror organisation. He previously served other high profile positions within the terror group. He was entrusted with coordinating weapons and money transfers between Hamas and PIJ. He worked largely on promoting terror in Gaza, Judea and Samaria and around the world.
Tarek Az Aldin, PIJ’s Coordinator of Terrorism in Judea and Samaria (West Bank). He was responsible for transferring money to terror cells in the West Bank. He was also the commander who, from Gaza, planned and coordinated various attacks undertaken by PIJ cells outside of Gaza.
Ali Ghali, Commander of PIJ’s rocket launching force in Gaza. Ghali was a trusted member of PIJ and held a central role in the instruction and launching of rockets being fired from Gaza towards Israel. He was responsible for training forces and carrying out attacks throughout previous conflicts, including this one.
Ahmed Abu-Deka, Deputy Commander of PIJ’s rocket launching force in Gaza. Abu-Deka worked under Ghali and was the manager of the terror forces that have fired rockets towards Israel this week. He was directly involved in the planning and carrying out of these attacks.
As you can see, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have targeted PIJ from the top down. They have achieved four main objectives from this. First, they have hindered PIJ’s operational ability to fire rockets at Israel. Second they have weakened the link between PIJ terrorism in Gaza and PIJ terrorism in the West Bank. Third, Israel has hampered coordination between PIJ and other terror groups in Gaza, primarily Hamas. And finally, Israel has sent a message to the terrorists of Gaza that none of them are immune, no matter how well protected they think they are.
These terrorists were bad people. They had blood on their hands and their work was only going to cause more violence and threaten the lives of civilians both in Israel and in Gaza. Israel was right to take out these
Related Articles:
This year, we want to do more to bless Israel and the Jewish people.
We know that as we bless Israel this year, God will bless us, just as He promised in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Now is the time to bless Israel and the Jewish people.
