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Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, hosted leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) on Wednesday to hail the terror groups’ supposed-victory over Israel last month. During the visit, The Supreme Leader told Secretary General Ziad al-Nekhaleh, the Syrian-based leader of the PIJ since 2018, that “Zionist leaders have the right to worry about not seeing the regime’s 80th year”.
The Iranian-affiliated proxy group launched 1,468 rockets into Israel during the recent conflict in May. Close to 400 were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defences, whilst approximately 290 fell short in Gaza killing at least four Palestinian civilians. One Israeli woman was killed in her home in Rehovot as well as one Gazan man on a working permit in Israel.
In response, the IDF launched Operation Shield and Arrow; killing six senior PIJ commanders and 15 Palestinian militants. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, 33 Gazans were killed, including 10 civilians, three of which children killed from PIJ rockets falling short in the Gaza Strip.
The Ayatollah hailed the conflict as “the Zionist regime’s recent defeat”, and congratulated PIJ on their “growing power”, which is “key to bringing the Zionist enemy to its knees”. He cited “political instability” including “four prime ministers in four years, party coalitions collapse” and “demonstrations of hundreds of thousands of people” as further evidence of Israel’s disintegration, which is routinely anticipated by Tehran. PIJ activities span Gaza and the West Bank.
In 2022, al-Nakhalah met with the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to coordinate the smuggling of weapons to the Palestinian territories through Jordan. Tehran is working toward establishing rocket launching capabilities throughout the Palestinian territories in an effort to encircle Israel with hostile terror cells. The strategy is the brainchild of IRGC chief Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. strike in 2020. Israel has also outlined Iranian plots to assassinate Israelis overseas.
