Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fired hundreds of rockets as Israel’s counterterrorism operation “Shield and Arrow” entered its third day.
“Over 500 rockets have been launched from Gaza towards Israeli territory since the beginning of rocket fire yesterday afternoon,” the Israeli TV channel i24news reported Thursday afternoon. The air defense systems, Iron Dome and David’s Sling, continue to shield Israeli towns and cities, and no Israeli casualties have been reported.
The IDF operation is focused on eliminating the leadership of Islamic Jihad (PIJ), an Iran-sponsored jihadi group that operates in Gaza under the protection of the terrorist organization Hamas.
“This is the third day of Operation Shield and Arrow, in which Israel is striking at the capabilities of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in Gaza,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement obtained by the Legal Insurrection.
“We inflicted significant damage to Islamic Jihad,” the statement declared. “The operation will end only when quiet and the safety of Israel’s residents is secured.”
The IDF has been able to eliminate several PIJ operatives and fighters. “As part of the overall campaign against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, 25 terrorists associated with the Gaza-based group were arrested throughout the West Bank in recent days in a joint operation by the Shin Bet and the IDF,” the i24news added.
After taking out three senior PIJ commanders on Tuesday, the IDF on Thursday eliminated another high-value terrorist target, Ahmed Abu Daka, the deputy commander of the jihadi group’s rocket force. His boss, Ali Hassan Ghali, was killed in a previous Israeli strike. The slain terrorist “had a significant part in the rocket launches toward Israel,” the IDF noted.
“Israel carried out a targeted killing of a senior officer of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Thursday afternoon, the military said. He was identified as Ahmed Abu Daka, the second in command after Ali Hassan Ghali, head of the PIJ rocket force, who was a victim of an earlier strike,” the Israeli news website Ynet reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep the military pressure on the PIJ and Hamas. “Anyone who comes to harm us – blood on his head, and also blood on the head of his replacement,” the Israeli leader said Thursday. “We are in the middle of the campaign, both offensively and defensively.”
The Islamic terrorists are once again using Gaza residents as human shields. They lunch rockets from residential areas, and many of their rockets aimed at Israel fall inside Gaza. “Islamic Jihad rockets fired at Israel also hurt the residents of the Gaza Strip. Approximately 20% of the rockets the organization fired at Israel fell in the Strip, and killed and wounded many Gazans. Last night, four non-combatants were killed from failed launches, including two 16-year-olds and a 10-year-old girl,” the IDF statement said.
As Prime Minister Netanyahu sees his “county the middle of the campaign” against Islamic Jihad terrorism, the Biden White House reportedly tells Jerusalem to end the operation. “The Biden administration is signaling to Israel to reach a ceasefire and end its ongoing operation in the Gaza Strip,” the leftwing Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Thursday.
Meanwhile, the mainstream media continues to smear Israel. In a brilliant display, Israel’s former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett shut down the CNN moderator trying to paint Israel as the aggressor in its war against the Islamic Jihad:
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