By Mudar Adnan Zahran
On the third day of confrontations between Israel and the Islamic Jihad, the militant group announced an Egyptian-brokered truce will begin at 20:30 GMT on 7 August. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s office confirmed the ceasefire.
A very well-informed and senior Arab official has informed me that the ceasefire was confirmed by the Islamic Jihad after a 45-minute phone call between a very senior Egyptian intelligence officer and his Iranian counterpart. The official noted “The Iranian side wanted the truce to happen as fast as possible”
What the source claims does not seem to contradict what is happening on the ground in Gaza. This quick conclusion of fighting is very inconsistent with previous rounds. Usually, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad refuse all offers for a ceasefire until some serious Israeli bombings have taken place. The reasons for this are simple; the leaders of both terror groups are rarely affected by the fighting. They and their families are either safe in bunkers underground or vacationing in either Jordan, Qatar, or Turkey. The second reason is that both, Hamas, and the Islamic Jihad are not free to make their own decisions. They receive orders over the phone from their masters who call the conditions of any ceasefires that serve their interests and not those of Gazans. In the case of the Islamic Jihad, the leaders of the terror group receive their orders directly from Iran.
Trained, financed, and promoted by Iran and her Arab friends, the Islamic Jihad is a de facto offshoot of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. This means Iran is the one who has called the ceasefire shot. But why wouldn’t Iran let Gaza burn this time as it has always done? Why did Iran agreed to a ceasefire so quickly?
The answer lies in the way Israel managed the matter, which was quite different from the previous times and therefore has produced different results.
First, Israel took the initiative by arresting a senior Islamic Jihad figure in the West Bank, Bassam Al-Saadi. This helped demoralize the Islamic Jihad’s followers there and blocked their chances of causing any unrest in support of Islamic Jihad members in Gaza.
Second, Israel took the initiative by killing the most senior and capable military commander of the Islamic Jihad, Tayseer Al-Rajabi on 5 August. Then, immediately proceeded with very surgical and effective hits on installations of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza which left the terror group dumbfounded with the unprecedented and highly accurate strikes.
Third, Hamas never joined the fight on the side of the Islamic Jihad. My Arab intelligence sources who are very close to the situation in Gaza have confirmed to me the Egyptians and Qataris have both convinced Hamas to keep the truce they have sustained since January 2022. The sources claim Hamas leaders were told Qatar would go as far as freezing Hamas monthly funds if it was to break the truce with Israel. Hence, Hamas did not join the Islamic Jihad’s fight and left them to fend for themselves.
Fourth, Israel was upping its Gaza operations quickly and went beyond the curve by killing Tayseer Al-Jabari’s second in command, Khaled Mansour, “Commander of the Southern District in Gaza.” Mansour was much less capable and nowhere near charismatic as Al-Jabari, nonetheless, he was his potential successor.
With the Israeli hits becoming more painful and on target, Iran had no chance but to swallow its pride and seek a quick truce to save its terrorist assets in Gaza from being annihilated by Israel.
With the Islamic Jihad humiliated, its top leaders gone and its mentor, Iran, approving a quick ceasefire, it is safe to say Operation Breaking Dawn has been successful. This success must serve as a challenge to the outdated “conventional wisdom” by several Israeli governments of “Maintaining the status quo” and “Keeping the current leaders because you never know whom you are going to get if they are gone.”
The terror leaders ruling Gaza are a threat to the Gazans themselves, to Israelis and to the region. Targeting the head of the snake kills it. The lesson learned from this operation could be summed up with this verse of ancient pre-Islam Arab poetry:
“Do not you cut the snake’s tail and let it go,
If you are a mensch, hit it on its head then follow with the tail.”
Worth noting that there was a major call by Gazans for “a million-man march to topple the Hamas regime,” which was supposed to be launched on the 5th of August, the same day the operations began.
Mudar Zahran is the Secretary General of the Jordanian Opposition Coalition and an important Palestinian leader.
Neither Hamas nor Iran are stupid – just evil. Thank G-d for the IDF and the courage of the Israeli people. I lived in Jerusalem during the Yom Kippur war, and was deeply impressed by the bravery and the unquenchable spirit of the Israelis. That experience made me a Zionist, and my husband and I pray every day for the peace of Jerusalem and the whole of Israel.
I read it and loved it.
You know nothing about Mideast and Israeli struggles until you have read John Loftus’ “The Secret War Against The Jews”