Three-Day Conflict Between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad

Policy Briefs Program

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Three-Day Conflict Between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad

Operation “Breaking Dawn”:

• On August 5, 2022, Israel launched a surprise 55-hour offensive against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza, code-named “Breaking Dawn.”
• At least 44 Palestinians were killed during the three-day fighting, a third of which were children. 
•  Israel reports that it attacked 170 PIJ targets and that 1,100 rockets were fired into Israel. 
• The Israeli attacks followed four tense days that saw heightened alertness in the areas surrounding Gaza Strip, after Israel arrested PIJ senior leader Bassam al-Saadi in the occupied West Bank.
• Israel cites the operation was provoked by “imminent threat of attack against Israeli civilians posed by the Islamic Jihad.” 
• During the operation, Israel successfully targeted numerous senior PIJ leaders, killing its commanders in the north and the south, Taysir al-Jabari and Khaled Mansour respectively. 
• The Islamic Jahid responded with hundreds of rockets, most of which did not hit target due to interceptions by Israeli defense. 
• Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, refrained from joining the fighting, although it offered rhetorical support for the PIJ. 

Ceasefire: 

• On August 7, 2022, Israel and the PIJ agreed to an Egypt-brokered ceasefire, ending the most significant fighting between Israel and Gaza militant groups since May 2021; the ceasefire appears to hold. 
• The PIJ declared that Israel will release al-Saadi as part of the truce, but Israeli sources denied this.  
• In a joint statement concluding the operation, Defense Minister Gantz and Prime Minister Lapid thanked Egyptian efforts to reach a ceasefire and vowed to launch future pre-emptive strikes whenever necessary. 

International Responses: 

• Upon the operation launch, US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides reaffirmed US support for Israeli security operations.
• Following the ceasefire announcement, Biden welcomed the truce and reiterated US support for Israel’s “right to defend itself against attacks.”
• UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland expressed concern about civilian casualties, and later welcomed the ceasefire. 
• Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Major General Salami promised that “the Israelis will pay yet another heavy price for their recent crime.”