On March 9, 2012, the occupation forces' warplanes assassinated the secretary-general of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), Zuhir al-Qaisi, when they bombed his car in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, west of Gaza City. This has prompted the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement to wage a solo war against Israel for four days. At the time, Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the PIJ, fired nearly 200 rockets into Israel. They also threatened — should the aggression develop — to use rockets that can reach cities beyond Ashdod, which is located about 35 kilometers from Gaza.

However, the "balance of terror," as described by analysts at the time, which prevailed following the assassination of Haitham al-Mislah on April 30, 2013, and the subsequent Israeli raids led to this pertinent question: Is the PIJ capable of waging a war on its own? Perhaps, the war could expand to include Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran and Syria. Or will the movement resort to political intimidation, especially as it has announced its intention to run for the National Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization and local council elections?

The next war

Al-Monitor met with Khaled al-Batesh, a leader in the PIJ, in his office. He said that the next war is inevitable, as "Zionists at this stage seek to remove the heavy burden off their chests after the results of the last battle in November, when the resistance pounded Tel Aviv with rockets."