BICOM

Despite the commencement yesterday of an unofficial ceasefire organised by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, violence is continuing, though on a reduced level. The IDF Spokesperson’s Office and Palestinian media sources have confirmed that a local commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad was killed today in Rafah when Israeli aircraft targeted a car in which he was traveling. According to a statement by the IDF Spokesperson, the man was ‘involved in smuggling weapons and sought to advance military operations in Sinai.’  Palestinian media reported that there were no other fatalities in the incident, but that two people were wounded. Following the incident, two mortar shells were launched from Gaza in the direction of the western Negev. There were no injuries or damage to property.

Islamic Jihad was not involved in the terror attacks in southern Israel, which set off the current round of violence. However, this group has played a major role in the subsequent rocket and missile attacks on Israeli targets. The group has a large arsenal of short and medium-range rockets. Islamic Jihad is the Palestinian group most closely linked to Iran, which has led to speculation by Israeli analysts that the group’s involvement in seeking to escalate the violence could be related to instructions from Iran. In a recent interview, leading Israeli analyst Ehud Ya’ari noted Iran’s desire to divert attention from the uprising against the Assad regime in Syria, Iran’s close regional ally. He suggested that one way of doing this would be to foment violence against Israel.