The IDF’s campaign against the terrorist group Islamic Jihad in Gaza called “Operation Sword and Arrow” is now in its third day. As of Thursday morning, the IDF said that it had struck 147 targets throughout the Gaza Strip that were used by Islamic Jihad for terrorist operations, including arms manufacturing facilities and rocket launching bases.
The IDF has also now killed four senior Islamic Jihad embers. Three were killed in the opening of the operation Tuesday morning. The fourth, Ali Ghali, was killed in an attack carried out early Thursday morning.
Ali Ghali was described by the IDF as being the commander of the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad’s rocket force in the Gaza Strip. He was killed in an air strike while hiding apartment in Khan Yunis.
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In a statement, the IDF said, “Ghali was considered a central figure in the organization and dealt with its routine management.”
He was also said to have been responsible for the processes of aiming and firing rockets towards the territory of the State of Israel, among other things.
DF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, “The strike was carried out thanks to successful intelligence, the identification of the hideout apartment, one floor where the operatives were struck. This was a very precise attack by the Air Force.”
The IDF also reported that, as of 8 AM Thursday, 110 rockets launched from Gaza failed in that they either exploded, fell back down in Gaza, failed to launch entirely, etc.
The IDF also said that since the start of “Operation Shield and Arrow” it shot down 154 rockets launched at Israeli territory by the terrorist group Islamic Jihad. But a total of 368 rockets crossed into Israeli territory since the start of the operation out of more than 500 launched by Islamic Jihad.
The IDF said it called the operation “Shield and Arrow” because it is an operation of “defense and attack.”
Wednesday night Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant addressed the nation on Israel’s three broadcast channels. They refuted rumors of a possible cease fire and basically said “Operation Sword and Arrow” will continue until the IDF’s objectives have been completed.