Israel’s military operation against Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, codenamed “Breaking Dawn,” lasted 56 hours. The fighting has paused with a cease-fire announced late last night. Reportedly, IDF believes Israeli strikes killed 35 people in Gaza during the fighting, 11 of them civilians and the rest PIJ militants. An additional 15 or 16 civilians were killed, it was claimed, by Gazan rockets that fell short. On the Israeli side, 47 people were injured lightly.
From the IDF’s strategic point of view, the operation went as planned, reaching most of its military goals. Within three days, the Iran-backed PIJ had been dealt blows from which it will be hard to recover. Still, it is difficult to predict how long the fragile ceasefire will last.
The operation followed three tense days along the border with Gaza last week, during which the military came under criticism for limiting the movement of area residents based on vague threats of planned PIJ retaliation for the Aug. 1 arrest of its top commander in the West Bank.
On Aug. 5, based on intelligence from the Shin Bet security agency, the air force swooped in on PIJ’s northern Gaza commander Taysir al-Jabari with guided munitions and fired at his hideout in Gaza City, killing him and also taking out several PIJ teams Israel claimed were on their way to fire anti-tank mortars toward Israeli communities.
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