LATIMES.COM WSCE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019A
THE WORLD
JERUSALEM — For
years, the group known as
the Palestinian Islamic Ji-
had, the second most power-
ful faction in the blockaded
Gaza Strip, has sought to
play a leading role in Pal-
estinian affairs, often joust-
ing with Hamas, the armed
militia that has ruled the en-
clave for almost 12 years.
In Israel and the West,
both entities are widely con-
sidered terrorist groups. In
the contest between the two,
Hamas’ expanded responsi-
bilities include the manage-
ment of daily life in Gaza,
whereas Islamic Jihad re-
mains stuck in the second-
ary role of a paramilitary
group threatening and ag-
gravating Israel and Egypt,
among others.
From the Israeli perspec-
tive, “it is not that Hamas is
any better,” said Amos Gile-
ad, executive director of the
Institute for Policy and
Strategy at the Interdiscipli-
nary Center in Herzliya.
“But because it has respon-
sibility for the Gazan popu-
lation, at least you can pre-
dict its actions. With Islamic
Jihad, well, there’s just noth-
ing to do.”
On Tuesday, Israel went
after the group, with Prime
Minister Benjamin Netan-
yahu announcing that the
Israeli air force had killed
“arch-terrorist” Bahaa abu
Atta, 42, the Palestinian Is-
lamic Jihad commander, in a
daybreak surgical strike in
which his wife, Asma, also
died. Islamic Jihad retaliat-
ed with nearly 200 missiles
fired into Israel, which
struck back with air sorties
that left eight people dead in
Gaza, authorities there said.
No Israelis were reported
killed in the daylong com-
bat.
Israel holds Abu Atta re-
sponsible for hundreds of
missile launches into its ter-
ritory, including a particu-
larly audacious move on
Sept. 10, in which the south-
ern city of Ashdod was
pelted with rockets at the
very moment Netanyahu ad-
dressed an audience of his
party faithful at a campaign
event a week before elec-
tions.
Netanyahu’s remarks,
streamed live on his Face-
book page, were interrupted
by the piercing wail of air
raid sirens and the sight of
his bodyguards leaping on-
stage and whisking him tosafety in front of stunned
spectators.
But for all of Netanyahu’s
apparent pride Tuesday in
the successful operation, it
once again proved to Israelis
and Palestinians how deli-
cate the status quo is.
Tuesday turned into a
day of almost-war, with Is-
lamic Jihad rockets reach-
ing as far north as Tel Aviv,
Israel’s economic nerve cen-
ter, and paralyzing much of
the country. Islamic Jihad
receives most of its support
from Iran.
Homes and at least one
factory were demolished by
direct strikes, but the lack of
fatalities on the Israeli side
testified to the success of the
Iron Dome antimissile sys-
tem, the country’s extensive
network of civil defense in-stallations, and a population
trained in following the in-
structions of the army’s
Home Front Command.
In Tel Aviv and surround-
ing cities, and in the entire
south of Israel, children were
kept home from school and
many businesses were shut-
tered. The barrage contin-
ued into the evening but qui-
eted after midnight.
The Palestinian Author-
ity, which has a contentious
relationship with both
Hamas and Islamic Jihad,
appeared largely unmoved,
although chief negotiator
Saeb Erekat condemned Is-
rael’s act as a “crime.”
Hamas and Islamic Jihad is-
sued statements condemn-
ing the assassination of Abu
Atta and threatening con-
tinued retaliation.Fathi Sabbah, a Gazan
writer and political analyst,
said in an interview that
“Hamas will think a thou-
sand times before entering a
long confrontation with Is-
rael.” He added: “Hamas ap-
pears to be suffering from
complete loss of control, giv-
ing Abu Atta the space to
launch attacks on Israel
without coordination.” A
stalemate reigns on all sides,
between Israelis and Pal-
estinians and within each
population.
Netanyahu has led a car-
etaker government for al-
most a year and has failed,
after two rough electoral
campaigns, to form a new
government.
On Tuesday, calling the
Gaza violence crazy, Presi-
dent Trump appeared per-plexed but amused at Ne-
tanyahu’s predicament.
At a New York fundraiser
for Orthodox Jews, he won-
dered aloud: “What kind of a
system is it over there? They
are all fighting and fighting.
... They keep having elec-
tions and nobody is elected.”
The uptick in violence
and disruption of civilian life
came at a precarious time
for Netanyahu, who is ex-
pected to be indicted on sev-
eral counts of corruption, in-
cluding bribery, fraud and
breach of trust, before the
end of the year.
Former army chief Benny
Gantz, the center-left leader
who barely bested Netan-
yahu in the September vote
while failing to win a parlia-
mentary majority, has a
week left in his mandate to
form a new government be-
fore the entire morass is
thrown to the Knesset, Isra-
el’s parliament, which is it-
self deadlocked.
The unending cycle could
continue into a third round
elections.
Netanyahu spent much
of the day before Abu Atta’s
killing darkly warning Isra-
elis against Gantz’s possible
coalition with left-of-center
parties.
“A minority government
supported by the Arab
parties is a slap to the face of
[Israeli] soldiers and a dan-
ger to the state of Israel,” he
said.
Although army officials
insisted that the timing of
the Abu Atta operation was
strictly a matter of opportu-
nity — knowing he was a tar-
get, he usually surrounded
himself with women and
children — Netanyahu did
not shy away from taking full
credit as having guaranteed
the nation’s security.Special correspondents
Tarnopolsky and Abu
Alouf reported from
Jerusalem and Gaza City,
respectively.Message to Hamas in Israel’s Gaza strike
An Islamic Jihad
commander held
responsible for rocket
attacks is killed.
By Noga Tarnopolsky
and Rushdi abu Alouf
A PALESTINIAN militant stands guard outside the Gaza City home of Bahaa abu Atta, the Islamic Jihad
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