Terrorist chiefs in Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorist organization and its ally, the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group headed for their underground bunkers Wednesday night while raising the alert level for the rest of the enclave.
According to a report by the Hezbollah-linked Al-Akhbar news outlet in Lebanon, the terrorist organizations are anticipating targeted assassinations by Israeli forces in response to the heightened terror wave underway in Judea and Samaria.
The news outlet cited Israeli media reports saying Israel is about to carry out a “major operational activity” in response to the escalation of terror in Judea and Samaria.
“Informed sources” were quoted as saying the terrorist groups “fear that the enemy army will repeat the same scenario it resorted to last May, when its planes assassinated three senior leaders of the ‘Quds Brigades’, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad.”
The terror groups reportedly anticipate Israeli forces “may go to the option of liquidating mid-level leaders or elements, which will lead to an escalation that will last for a day or two.”
Sources quoted by the news outlet claimed the response to any such action by Israel “will be greater than the expectation of the occupation, which will be surprised by its method and size . . . Such a step may lead to a major escalation that would be seen on various fronts where the resistance operates.”
The sources added that the Israeli government is “trying to create a new equation: the response to attacks in [Judea and Samaria] will be assassinations,” but added, “The resistance organizations will not allow the occupation to change the rules of the confrontation in the Gaza Strip or outside it.”
