Israel has changed the deterrence equation with Islamic Jihad the same way it did with Hamas two years ago, said Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He spoke at the start of a weekly Likud meeting on May 15. Netanyahu is the head of the Likud party.
“Our intention in Operation Shield and Arrow was to change the deterrence balance against the Islamic Jihad,” he said, speaking about the military operation that ran from May 9 to 13.
Israel took down half of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization’s leadership in a surprise blow, and the other half during the operation, Netanyahu said.
The message was not only aimed at the Islamic Jihad, he said, but all around.
“Whoever harms us or plans to harm us, will now better understand the meaning of the words ‘your blood is on your own head,’” he said. “We are changing the balance of deterrence.”
During Operation Shield and Arrow, a total of 1,468 rockets were launched toward Israel, out of which 1,139 crossed into Israel’s territory and 290 fell inside Gaza.
The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted 437 rockets, with a success rate of about 96 percent, according to the Israel Defence Force (IDF) in a Twitter post.
Israeli forces struck 700 terrorist targets, the IDF said in its post.
Israel aims to change the deterrence equation and not for the first time, said Netanyahu.
The most significant change in the balance of deterrence took place two years ago in Operation Guardian of the Walls, against Hamas, he said, adding that Hamas has not fired a single rocket into Israeli territory since.
Operation Shield and Arrow
The five-day clash between Israeli forces and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza has resulted in a fragile ceasefire that appears to be holding.The conflict claimed the lives of 33 people in Gaza and two people in Israel, one of whom was a Palestinian worker.
The escalation began when the IDF killed three top commanders of the terror group.
Israel has faced criticism for civilian casualties, but it maintains that it takes measures to avoid harm to civilians.
Israeli airstrikes targeted Islamic Jihad’s command centers and rocket-launching sites.
A ceasefire between Israel and the terrorist organization was established on Saturday evening, taking effect at 11 p.m. local time.
The truce, mediated by Egypt, has been upheld thus far. The Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi conveyed his appreciation to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi for his dedicated involvement in the process.
However, shortly after the ceasefire took effect, a rocket fired by Gaza terrorists landed in an open area of southern Israel.
In response, Israeli tanks attacked two military outposts of the terrorist organization Hamas in northern Gaza, according to the IDF in a Twitter post.
Al Jazeera reported that Hamas said on its Voice of Al-Aqsa radio station that the rocket had been launched due to a “technical error.”
Ceasefire Put to the Test
As Jerusalem Day and the flag march approaches on May 18, Netanyahu expressed a commitment to Israel’s security and its determination to hold the event.The parade “will continue as planned, as usual, on its regular route,” Netanyahu stated.
The flag march is an important annual event during Jerusalem Day celebrations, commemorating the reunification of the Israeli capital during the Six-Day War in 1967.
Thousands of people carry Israeli flags as they march through the Old City of Jerusalem.
Critics of the event argue that Palestinians perceive the march as an attempt to assert Jewish dominance over the city.
In 2021, Netanyahu agreed to change the Jerusalem Day route so that marchers would not pass through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.
The Hamas terror group still fired rockets, which led to the 11-day IDF operation in Gaza called Guardian of the Walls.
During that time, Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired 4,400 rockets at Israel, killing 13 people.
The conflict spread to mixed Jewish-Arab cities in Israel, as Arab Israelis attacked Jews.
According to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, known for its Hamas sources, the Gaza terror groups informed Egyptian mediators that they have the ability to start a new campaign against Israel to “prevent the change of reality” at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
The Al Aqsa compound sits atop the Old City plateau of East Jerusalem, situated in an area known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a state they seek to establish in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
The truce will be put to the test later this week with the upcoming march as tensions could once again flare up when Israelis hold their annual event passing through the sensitive area of Jerusalem’s Old City, which the Palestinians view as provocative.
