Sirens sound in Jerusalem, IDF take out Islamic Jihad tunnel

Rocket sirens sounded in the Jerusalem area for the first time in over a year, and again in the Gaza border communities after nearly six hours of quiet. Over 580 rockets have been launched toward Israel since the beginning of Operation Breaking Dawn, the IDF said Sunday morning on the third day of fighting.

As of Sunday morning, approximately 450-470 of the rockets launched from the Strip crossed into Israel and 120 fell inside the Strip itself. 200 of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system for an interception rate of 97% fired towards populated areas.

The Eshkol regional council said on Sunday that a missile hit a municipality home. The family was in the home’s bomb shelter and the structure itself sustained some damage. Additionally, a fragment of a missile fell in an open area in Sderot, the municipality announced, adding that no injuries were reported.

Missile fragment in lands in Sderot after being fired from the Gaza Strip, August 7, 2022. (credit: SDEROT MUNICIPALITY)

Since the beginning of the operation, the IDF targeted 140 Islamic Jihad figures, including senior and anti-tank missile operatives. The military also destroyed 10 rocket launch sites, six military sites, and eight terror cells that were on the way or coming back from launching rockets.

Israel Air Force jets also destroyed an attack tunnel belonging to the Islamic Jihad in the south and central part of the Strip.

While it didn’t cross into Israel, it came close to the border.

Joint IDF, Shin Bet and Border Police arrests of Islamic Jihad operatives in the West Bank, August 7, 2022. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

Who are the targets of the IDF?

IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Ran Kohav confirmed on Sunday morning that senior Islamic Jihad operative Khaled Mansour was killed in an Israeli airstrike along with two other senior PIJ operatives who were with him in his home. According to the Israeli military, the commander of the terror group’s Rafah Brigade, Khattab Amassi, and Mansour’s deputy, Ziad Madalal.

Mansour was equivalent to a general, Kohav said, adding that the strike against him was approved and coordinated by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi, Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

Mansour was the group’s equivalent to Tayseer al-Jabari in the southern part of the Gaza Strip and was behind numerous missile and anti-tank-guided missile attacks against Israel.

During Operation Guardian of the Walls last May, Mansour commanded over the launching of heavy rockets toward the Israeli cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon and worked to implement offensive plans against IDF forces and Israeli citizens.

According to the army, he took responsibility for the attack in which the late Major Eliraz Peretz and the late Staff Sgt. Ilan Sviatkovsky were killed in 2010.

Joint IDF, Shin Bet and Border Police arrests of Islamic Jihad operatives in the West Bank, August 7, 2022. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)

The IDF confirmed that 4,000 reservists were called up on Sunday, out of a cap of 25,000 troops that was approved by Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Friday. Gantz, in coordination with Prime Minister Yair Lapid approved the mobilization of the reservists under the “tzav 8” emergency call-up order.

The army said that they would replace the emergency call-up orders that were issued at the beginning of the operation and would make it easier for female and reservist soldiers to exercise their rights in the workplace and in the context of academic studies.

“The security system and the State of Israel are committed to providing full rights to the reservists, who are an integral and essential part of the effort,” Gantz said.

The orders are valid for 7 days, at the end of which the Gantz can apply to obtain the government’s approval to extend it.

West Bank arrests

Israeli security forces also arrested 20 Islamic Jihad operatives overnight in the West Bank as part of Operation Break the Wave.

The arrests were made in Jenin, Seida near Tulkarm, Anza, Ra’i, and in Tulkarem’s refugee camp, where six of the arrests took place. Suspects were also arrested in El-Khader and Beit Fajjar near Bethlehem, and in Nablus where clashes broke out with Palestinians throwing stones and opening fire on IDF troops.

Sirens

After a lull of about five hours, rocket sirens blared in two southern Israel communities close to the Gaza border. The alarms sound in Kissufim and Ein HaShlosha.

Later sirens sounded in the Jerusalem area, including in the communities of Neve Ilan, Har Adar, and the Israeli-Arab town of Abu Gosh. Rockets sounded simultaneously in Gaza border communities.

The Magen David Adom emergency service says that since the beginning of the operation, it has taken 28 people to the hospital for injuries. The majority of them were in light condition or were taken for treatment for anxiety.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, 32 people have been killed in the Strip the majority of them Islamic Jihad operatives.

Tisha Be’av Jerusalem tensions

Islamic Jihad addressed the killings Sunday morning, stating: “The Zionist aggression in the city of Rafah killed him, as well as the holy warriors Ziad al-Mudlal, Rafat Saleh, and four residents of our people – including a boy and two women whose bodies were found under the rubble.”

The organization threatened that “Khaled Mansour’s blood will ignite the defense system for Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, which the settlers will break into today.”
“Khaled Mansour’s blood will ignite the defense system for Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, which the settlers will break into today.”

Palestinian Islamic Jihad

Stopping Islamic Jihad in its tracks

What about the attack in Jabaliya?

An explosion in Jabaliya on Saturday night killed at least nine people, including at least four children. While it was initially blamed on an Israeli airstrike, the military denied that it played any part in it, stating that it was caused by a failed rocket launch by Islamic Jihad and that it had radar showing the launch of the rocket from a launcher place close to the mosque where the incident occurred.
“The Palestinians understand that it wasn’t Israel’s doing. We have nothing to hide.”

IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Ran Kohav

“We have more and more information coming in confirming that it was a failed launch,” said Kohav, not an IDF strike. “The Palestinians understand that it wasn’t Israel’s doing. We have nothing to hide.”