BICOM

Conclusion of Operation Breaking Dawn: The ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) came into effect last night at 23:30 local time ending three days of fighting.

• The IDF struck 170 PIJ targets including a terror attack tunnel, military posts, weapons storage and rocket launch sites, as well as killing two senior military commanders and several other combatants.
• Overall 1,100 rockets were fired towards Israel. Of those, 380 were due to land in populated areas but were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, representing a 96 per cent success rate. 20 per cent of PIJ rockets landed inside the Gaza Strip.
• According to Palestinian sources 44 Palestinians were killed in the fighting.
• In the Israeli assessment, more Gazan civilians were killed by PIJ rockets than by Israeli strikes. According to their calculations, 11 civilians were killed in Israeli strikes, 15 in failed rocket launches by PIJ, including several children.
• Several rockets were fired after the 23:30 deadline, but since midnight the quiet has been maintained.
• There were no Israeli fatalities. In total 47 people were taken to hospital, only three of whom were injured by shrapnel.

Different version of ceasefire agreement: As in previous confrontations, the Egyptians mediated between the two sides and reached understandings to end the fighting.

• According to PIJ leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah, at a press conference in Iran he said that Israel had capitulated and had agreed to release Bassem Saadi, the senior commander arrested last week in Jenin and release another operative, Khalil Awadaad.
• Nakhalah said that if they were not released, the fighting would be resumed. He said, in contrast to Israel’s assessment, that PIJ was stronger than in the past and claimed Israel did not force any conditions on them.
• PIJ also claimed that the ceasefire agreement includes a resumption of the fuel supply to the Gaza Strip and lifting the blockade.
• According to Israeli officials the only condition that Israel accepted was that “quiet will be met with quiet”.
• Head of Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate, Lior Haiat said: “The State of Israel thanks the Egyptians for their efforts. If the ceasefire is violated, the State of Israel reserves the right to respond forcefully. We will not allow anyone to violate the day-to-day lives of the State of Israel’s residents.”

Israeli successes: Israel achieved its objectives within the first three minutes of launching the operation on Friday afternoon. It succeeded in surprising the enemy, targeting a senior commander and several armed cells, including snipers and anti-tank missiles.

• The IDF were content that over three days the PIJ have been substantially weakened.
• Perhaps most significantly, PIJ did not succeed in drawing Hamas into the fight. Similarly, unlike last year, the fighting did not spread into the West Bank or East Jerusalem. Israeli Arabs citizens did not participate in mass rioting in mixed cities either.
• This morning Israel feels that its deterrence has been restored and will likely continue to operate against PIJ cells in the West Bank.
• Israel considers that it was able to achieve a PR success by quickly releasing material highlighting the misfiring of faulty PIJ rockets.

Looking forward: There is cautious optimism that the ceasefire will hold. Though according to an Israeli official, “we reserve the right to retaliate if the ceasefire is violated.”

• The Erez crossing which facilitates 14,000 Gazans with permits to enter Israel and work will reopen today. There is also hope to expand this to 20,000.
• Similarly the Kerem Shalom crossing for goods will also reopen.