The IDF said that they had targeted ten weapon manufacturing sites and military compounds belonging to the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.
Iran is watching Israel's moves closely, and this is not the first time that the IDF have targeted the PIJ, which is widely seen as a proxy of Iran.
Back in 2019, Israel launched Operation Black Belt which was a precision strike on Baha Abu al-Ata, a senior terrorist in the Islamic Jihad. Israel saw that operation as an intelligence and operational achievement that continued to hinder the capabilities of Islamic Jihad for years. In 2018 Israel also launched Operation House of Cards in Syria after Iran fired rockets at Israel.
Iranian pro-regime media linked to the IRGC has heavily covered the new operation. Iran’s Tasnim says that PIJ’s Saraya al-Quds, the so-called “armed wing” of PIJ, has been struck and it has lost several commanders. Iran spins this as an acceptable blow it can recover from claiming that this will “increase the determination” of Islamic Jihad.
Iran also claims civilians were killed, claiming a daughter of PIJ commander Khalil Salah al-Bahtini was killed. It also claims that the son of PIJ member Tariq Muhammad Ezzidin was killed. “After the brutal attacks this morning by the Zionist regime to assassinate three leaders of the Islamic Jihad movement, Israel reported to Egypt the assassination of three commanders of the Quds Brigades,” Iran’s media said.
Iran continues to label Israeli defense as unnecessary
Iran now has tried to spin this operation as one in which PIJ and Hamas could respond. It says that the Hamas leaders have condemned the operation as “cowardly.” Iran is very focused on this operation and will likely consider how best to respond. READ MORE