IDF kills terrorist leader in Gaza, missiles fired at Israeli innocents

[America Needs R'hllor]

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israeli-operation-targets-leader-of-islamic-jihad-overnight-in-gaza-1.8118328

A joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet security service targeted a building in Gaza overnight on Monday killing Baha Abu al-Ata, the commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the northern Gaza Strip.

Just over an hour after the strike, multiple rocket alerts sounded in southern Israel, including in Ashdod, Beit Elazari, Ashkelon, Zikim, Karmia, and as far north as Holon and Rishon Le Zion, in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, signalling a retaliation from Gaza militants is underway.

...

"Ata was responsible for most attacks from the Gaza strip over the last year, including the days of battle close to Memorial Day [for Israel's fallen soldiers], the shooting on the Sderot festival on August 25, 2019, and the last rocket barrage against Sderot on Friday, November 1, 2019," the joint IDF-Shin Bet statement said, calling Ata "a ticking bomb."

We woke up this morning to more missiles. After the IDF killed a senior Islamic Jihad leader responsible for many of the attacks against Israeli citizens in recent weeks, the Islamic Jihad (an Iranian proxy organization in Gaza) decided to do what they do best- terrorize the innocenets. Missiles were fired on southern cities like Sderot, Ashkelon and Ashdod, and even at cities in the bustling center of Israel like Rishon Lezion, Holon and Tel Aviv.

The school, university and work day was cancelled from Tel Aviv southward, and there's a chance it'll be cancelled elsewhere. This is not a good sign- shutting down half the country like that is a sign that things could escalate further. The IDF signaled to the Islamic Jihad that "quiet will be answered by quiet", but as missiles continue raining down and sirens sound from Tel Aviv to Sderot, the IDF has begun strikes in Gaza. Hopefully this will quiet down soon.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Could be a dumb question, but I know you guys have a pretty sophisticated "dome" Ground to Air system, so would you say it's effective in situations like this?

Yeah, it's a pretty effective system but also not perfect. So far in this round, the dome had a 90% success rate in taking down missiles that are going to hit towns. That means there are still homes struck, but so far no one was killed or gravely injured afaik.

As for the homemade missiles- yeah, those I believe are harder to take down, but they can reach at most the small agricultural villages around Gaza and not the larger cities- not good, but still means that less people are in danger from them. Still, the Iron Dome manages to take many of them down too.

Anyway, right now the missiles from the Islamic Jihad continue, and Hamas said they won't stop the other organization from "taking vengeance on the zionists", but they also aren't actively participating afaik. There are serious questions as to why Israel decided to kill that leader now and spark such a firestorm, and whether a return to the strategy of taking down leaders is wise. Both the political and military leaderships say that the terrorirst leader was "a ticking bomb", but it's unclear why. The political questions about the timing are legitimate, but the military leadership was in the thick of it so I wouldn't be quick to believe this has all been politically-motivated.

Right now, it's quite embarrassing- Israel seems to be trying hard to get this round of fighting to end, but the Islamic Jihad are furious and say that "Israel started it and won't get to choose how to end it", meaning they'll continue shooting at civilians until they're satisfied. With that and with Hamas purposefully letting them continue, it's quite shameful and shows an erosion of deterrence in Gaza. Israel will definitely need a new strategy here soon, lest we also start getting trouble from Hezbollah to the north.

[America Needs R'hllor]

What may have some relevance is that the 15th anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death was two days ago.

I don't think so. The Islamic Jihad are an Iranian proxy, and they're responding (very violently) to the killing of one of their leaders.

Did I say anything inaccurate?

Anyway, my opinions on this whole affair- this entire operation has been a disaster and a military embarrassment. The Islamic Jihad said that Israel "started this, but they won't get to chose when to end this", practically proclaiming that they're in control and will continue to throw rockets on our civilians until they're satisfied. Absolutely disgraceful that we've let a small organization shut down half the country and the larger organization letting all of this happen, Hamas, is being let off the hook because we fear escalating things. The military and political leaders have called this terrorist leader a ticking bomb, and perhaps they're right, but this never should've done during such a politically precarious time, it should've been done when we're willing to escalate and face our enemies head-on. For all the hot wind about his strong leadership, Bibi has never been much of a "warmonger" or a strong leader. The next government will need to work hard on a new strategy in Gaza to return our deterrence but also start giving Gazans hope for the future and a reason to stop fighting, lest Hezbollah in the north are emboldened too.

And in a more informative tone- apparently this round of fighting is pretty much over. A ceasefire has reportedly been reached with the help of the UN, and the IDF called the operation (which they named "Black Belt") over, calling it a big success that managed to strongly damage the Islamic Jihad. I don't really see it, but I'm also not a professional, so who knows. The IDF has turned its eyes north now, to a possible looming conflict with Iran in the Syria-Lebanon borders.