Did Hamas win Israel-Islamic Jihad war in Gaza?
Hamas, PIJ stir resistance in West Bank; Egypt steps up, again, as mediator.
PIJ and the 'Unity of Battlefields'
The three-day war between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza last week didn’t start in Gaza, although Gazans again paid the heaviest price. The spark began in the West Bank, in Jenin, which is increasingly under the sway of Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement that rules Gaza, and its smaller and more militant counterpart, Islamic Jihad.
The Palestinian Authority, under President Mahmoud Abbas, has increasingly less control and influence over parts of the West Bank, including and especially the refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarem and Nablus. In the camps and other parts of the West Bank, Hamas and PIJ are the face of resistance for many disenfranchised Palestinians.
The Israeli Defense Forces launched "Operation Wave Breaker" in March of this year to contain and crack down on these armed groups and to disrupt terrorist operations inside Israel.
