Islamic Jihad stays on sidelines during Gaza violence

Islamic Jihad says it held its fire during recent Israeli raids on Gaza because the attacks were limited in scale, but political analysts suggest other motives. On Sunday, Israel launched a series of airstrikes which killed eight Palestinians over three days, including two Islamic Jihad militants. Islamic Jihad did not respond, but the military wings of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Resistance Committees and several smaller brigades sent a volley of rockets into southern Israel and at Israeli military sites around Gaza. Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, on Tuesday fired its first rockets since April 2011. Hamas militants launched 120 projectiles before committing to a truce on Wednesday night. Islamic Jihad leader Nafeth Azzam told Ma'an: "The escalation was not huge like the previous time, but we were ready and always available." He added: "We were not pressured by any side whether to participate or not." The movement is still abiding to the previous truce, he said. Political analyst Yahya Rabbah said Islamic Jihad had led the resistance last time Israel heavily bombed Gaza. "The Islamic Jihad movement ... took the entire burden of facing the occupation as most of the martyrs and the injured were its leaders and no one stood beside it until a truce was made through Egyptian mediation," Rabbah told Ma'an. Islamic Jihad stayed on the sidelines this week "to see how others would face the Israeli aggression," Rabbah suggested. On Monday, militants launched a cross-border attack from Egypt's Sinai desert which killed an Israeli civilian. Israel shot dead two of the attackers. Rabbah said Cairo was sensitive to Israeli accusations that it had lost control of Sinai, and for this reason Islamic Jihad did not want to be involved in hostilities. Meanwhile, analyst Akram Atallah said Islamic Jihad did not respond to the Israeli raids on Monday because it was still abiding by the previous truce. "Suddenly the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, shelled Israeli villages and areas near Gaza but Islamic Jihad stayed committed (to the truce)," Atallah told Ma'an. He suggested that the Al-Qassam Brigades ended its 15-month hiatus from firing rockets after making political calculations related to Egypt's presidential elections. Hamas militants fired rockets to test Israel's reaction in light of regional changes, and for this reason Islamic Jihad did not participate. Muslim Brotherhood candidate Muhammad Morsi on Monday claimed a victory in the elections although the result has yet to be announced.