Article author:
Reuters
James Mackenzie and Ali Sawafta
Jenin — For masked gunmen in the Jenin refugee camp, Israel's unannounced strike against Islamic Jihad in Gaza on Friday was Months later, the clashes have steadily lifted the profile of an Iran-backed militant group that may have come as little surprise.
As they fired into the air at a rally late last month to commemorate his three youths killed 40 days earlier, they were warned by the crowd:
Dark days to come.
Israeli planes bombed Gaza over the weekend and hundreds of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel were the largest cross-border confrontation in more than a year.
While carefully avoiding direct confrontation with the large and powerful Hamas group that controls the Gaza Strip, Israel focused its operations against what it called Iran's proxy Islamic Jihad. .
However, the conflict began with the arrest of the movement's senior leader, Bassam al-Saadi, in the town of Jenin, following regular clashes in cities in the occupied West Bank.
Formally founded in 1981 by physician Fatih Shikaki and other radicals, Islamic Jihad has taken root in camps scattered across the Gaza Strip and in the nearby West Bank housing Palestinian refugees. . Over the years it has carried out a series of suicide bombings and shootings and rocket launches against Israelis.
For the group, which is listed by the West as a terrorist organization, the Gaza bombing has imposed a heavy price, killing two senior commanders, and Hamas has done more than provide limited verbal support.
Islamic Jihad refused to make any compromises with Israel and refused to participate in elections to the Palestinian Authority. But the fight helped strengthen Israel's claim that it was on the front lines of a war with Israel eight years after U.S.-brokered peace talks collapsed.
As the Palestinian Authority is seen by many in the camp as out of touch and compromised by its ties with Israel, the movement encourages young recruits to take control of the government. It has offered a radical vision of resistance unconstrained by necessity.
It stands apart from Israel's arch-enemy Hamas, whose responsibility for the daily lives of his 2.3 million people in Gaza has forced him to carefully weigh the risks of another war. is drawing
Resistance epicenter
While clashes over the weekend were centered in Gaza, the arrest of Islamic jihad leaders in the West Bank has boosted the movement's momentum in cities such as Jenin and Nablus. It emphasizes strength and suggests that there may be more battles. Fight forward.
At least 400 people have been arrested and 30 killed by Israeli forces from Jenin so far this year, according to Palestinian Prisoners' Association statistics. Israel.
"We don't see a gathering of extremist groups like we have in Jenin anywhere," said Michael Milstein, an Israeli military official who oversees the West Bank and a former COGAT official. Told. It was a problem for both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities, he added.
Jenin came to the attention of the world in May when Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akuley was killed while reporting on a military raid in a crowded refugee camp. But this humble northern town has a long tradition of resistance that dates back to the pre-war British Mandate before the founding of Israel.
Israeli forces fought hard in the backstreets of Warren during the Second Intifada, destroying much of the camp. Clashes have been frequent in recent months, but accurate estimates of group strength are rare.
According to the CIA World Handbook, estimates last year ranged from 1,000 to several thousand. A spokesman for the Israeli military said Israel estimated the total number of Islamic Jihad operatives at about 10,000.
Israeli officials say the airstrikes in the Gaza Strip have left the group without significant rocket and anti-tank capabilities, weakening its command and control structure.
However, Islamic Jihad spokesman Musab al-Buraim said the loss of its leader could be absorbed and controlled "the human element, the human miracle, capable of repairing". .
A gunslinger parading at a Jenin rally in a square by his street carried a wide variety of firearms, including his M-16 rifle and the latest automatic rifle used by the Israeli military. Swinging around and sometimes firing in the middle of the night. Sky.
Small, with a slight build beneath their masks and camouflaged combat uniforms, many appeared to be little more than teenagers. (Written by James Mackenzie, edited by Philippa Fletcher)
