Earlier this month, the Israel Defense Forces sent planes to the Gaza Strip, surgically targeting Hamas army sites in the coastal enclave. The IDF operation was a reaction to rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel in the past day: an attack, according to reports, that IDF suspects were carried out through Islamic Jihad. By punishing Hamas, the IDF reinstated previous norms of engagement with the terrorist organization: Hamas will have to detain other terrorist actors in Gaza or pay the price.
The rocket attack from Gaza followed the deaths of two high-ranking terrorists in the West Bank: Muhammed al-Saadi, a member of Islamic Jihad in Jenin, and Na’im Zubeidi of the Fatah-linked Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Al Saadi and Zubeidi were killed in an exchange of fire in an early morning IDF arrest operation in Jenin this month. The IDF and Israel’s Shin Bet security firm said the two gunmen were guilty of wearing down past shooting attacks on Israelis. Israeli media later reported that al-Saadi had “arranged” the removal of an Israeli citizen’s frame (whether the user was already dead is a matter of dispute) from a Jenin hospital last month.
U. S. , ISRAEL CONDUCT JOINT AIR EXERCISES
After the clashes in Jenin, Israel was ready to fire rockets from Gaza after Islamic Jihad and Hamas threatened to respond. The planned attack came two days later in the form of a rocket fired from Gaza into Israeli territory, prompting Israeli airstrikes against Hamas assets, adding a tunnel and rocket production site. This reaction is in line with the engagement regulations set by the molder (and presumed entrant) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has maintained a policy of holding Hamas accountable for any terror emanating from the West Bank.
However, in August this year, under the leadership of Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Israel broke with this long-standing policy. During Operation Dawn, an intense 66-hour standoff between the IDF and militants in Gaza, Lapid made the strategic resolve to deal a heavy blow to Islamic Jihad in Gaza without engaging with Hamas.
During Breaking Dawn, Gaza militants fired more than 1,100 rockets into Israel and the IDF eliminated top Islamic Jihad leaders. At the time, IDF spokesman Ran Kochav told reporters that the IDF had hit some 140 Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip, targeting army assets. and the most sensible leaders of the terrorist group. It is vital to note that the IDF made a resolution not to attack Hamas in the operation as long as Hamas remained out of the fighting.
Hamas has a history of exercising greater tactical restraint than other militant teams in Gaza. It has even been willing to control Islamic Jihad and other militant teams in Gaza when it has benefited from them. Such a habit has caused friction between competing militant teams, with Islamic Jihad harshly criticizing Hamas for staying out of fighting in August when it defeated across Israel.
Despite Hamas’s ability to stay out of Operation Dawn, the IDF’s recent attack on Hamas marks the moment since August when Israel has returned to Hamas’s policy of attacks in reaction to attacks allegedly carried out through other terror equipment in Gaza. The IDF used the same manual in November, when terrorists also smuggled rockets into Israel. Although no faction claimed responsibility for the attack, the IDF responded by targeting a cache of Hamas weapons in the Mediterranean enclave.
By surgically targeting Hamas assets in Gaza in reaction to rocket fire in November and December this year, the IDF is sending a transparent signal to Hamas that Israel has restored its previous policy of deterrence. Hamas will pay a value for any terror emanating from Gaza, whether or not it participated in the attack.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Enia Krivine is Senior Director of the Israel Program and the FDD National Security Network at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow Enia on Twitter on @EKrivine.
Joe Truzman is a contributor to FDD’s Long War Journal. Follow him on Twitter @JoeTruzman.