Islamic Jihad holds firm on Gaza cease-fire conditions
Islamic Jihad has vowed to avenge Israel’s assassination of its commander and the attempted killing of another leader in Syria.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A truce was announced early Nov. 14 after Islamic Jihad's escalation against Israel without participation by Hamas. The group had vowed a strong response to Israel’s assassination of commander Bahaa Abu el-Atta of Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad in Gaza.
A Nov. 12 Israeli airstrike that ripped through their home in the besieged Gaza Strip killed Abu el-Atta and his wife.
Islamic Jihad also vowed to respond to the failed assassination attempt on the group’s leader Akram al-Ajouri in Damascus on the same day. A barrage of rockets was fired toward Israeli cities and settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip for the third consecutive day.
Speaking from Beirut on Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen TV on Nov. 14, the secretary-general of Islamic Jihad, Ziad Nakhala, gave three requirements for a cease-fire. These “conditions of the people” included an end to Israeli assassinations, the use of live ammunition against demonstrators of the Gaza March of Return and the Gaza siege.
