“As long as rockets, missiles are fired by Islamic Jihad at Israeli civilian areas, we will continue to intervene to protect our people”declared the spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Paris Simon Seroussi on Sunday August 7 on franceinfo, while a new escalation of tensions is underway in the Middle East between Israel and the Islamic Jihad, installed in the strip from Gaza.
>> Follow live the evolution of the situation between Israel and the Islamic Jihad
franceinfo: The Israeli army announces that the military leaders of the Islamic Jihad have been “neutralized”. Has Israel’s objective been achieved and will the Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip stop?
Simon Serousi: As long as rockets and missiles are fired by Islamic Jihad at Israeli civilian areas, we will continue to intervene to protect our people. (…) Israel’s military objectives are twofold. They are primarily to protect Israeli civilians from attacks by Islamic Jihad. The violence we see today began with an intervention by the Israel Defense Forces (known as the Tsahal) following an imminent terrorist attack on southern Israel. Islamic Jihad operatives were on their way to carry out an attack when the IDF intervened. (…) The second objective, which is to strike at the infrastructures and capacities of Islamic Jihad, has in fact been partly achieved since senior executives of the organization have been eliminated.
Israel carried out a first “preemptive attack” on Friday when Islamic Jihad had not yet targeted the Jewish state. By doing so, didn’t the Israeli army start the fire?
Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of not defending our civilian population. We are dealing with a radical organization. I remind you that Islamic Jihad is one of the most violent and radical Islamist organizations in the world. It is similar to Al-Qaeda operationally and ideologically. It is an organization recognized as terrorist by the United States, by the European Union, which is barely 150 km from Tel Aviv, our economic capital.
“It’s a bit like having Al-Qaeda in Rouen preparing an attack on Paris. We must protect our civilian populations and we must intervene against such radical groups who want to attack our population.”
Simon Seroussi, spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Parisat franceinfo
I also remind you that this is an organization which is financed and armed by Tehran. The head of Islamic Jihad was in Iran just a few days ago, where he met with senior members of the mullahs’ regime. We will therefore continue to take all the measures that we must take in order to protect our population.
Israel says it is preparing for a week-long operation. How do you estimate this duration?
We don’t want this operation to take hold over time. Our Prime Minister has said it very clearly, we don’t want any escalation. But if the Islamic Jihad does not stop firing, we are ready to fight as long as it takes to restore calm in southern Israel and in the center of the country.