Israel

Islamic Jihad: Israel’s Deadliest Threat

By John Waage
CBN News Analyst

CBNNews.com– SDEROT, Israel – Of all the Palestinian terrorist groups, Islamic Jihad is one of the most complex and dangerous. It's smaller than Hamas, but well trained. And its members carry out their war against Israel with deadly intensity.

The soldiers' Jihad chant goes like this: "Our model is the Prophet, our constitution is the Koran, our way is Jihad, our best wish is to die in Allah's way.”

Khan Younis, a city west of Gaza, is a real hub for terrorists and houses an Islamic Jihad training camp. A CBN News source spent time with Islamic Jihad's Jerusalem Brigade to learn more about their daily confrontation with Israel and their mindset as Islamists.

We observed a bunch of Islamic Jihadists on maneuvers, training to invade and fight Israel.

They were learning how to ambush, how to kidnap. But their specialty is firing rockets, currently the crude Kassam.

The small Israeli city of Sderot near the Gaza Strip has borne the brunt of the terrorist Kassam attacks. But the plan for Islamic Jihad and other groups is to expand the terror to other Israeli cities.

The day our crew was in Gaza, Islamic Jihad fired a new rocket called the Jerusalem 4, complete with the signature of Islamic Jihad's military wing. One of the rocket's manufacturers says it will hit Israelis like an earthquake.

“The nature of the struggle with the Jews is a struggle between good and evil, and it is a religious struggle -- not a struggle over land and borders,” said an Islamic Jihad engineering specialist.

Islamic Jihad confirmed Israel's concern that the group has also smuggled Russian grad-type Katyusha rockets into Gaza, with a range of nearly 15 miles.

Islamic Jihad military leader Abu Hamza said, “In regards to Katyusha rockets, we did not upgrade them. We have our ways of getting them.”

Islamic Jihad has its own human weapons in addition to the rockets. One man we saw is ready to be a suicide bomber.

“When I see the kids slaughtered and the houses destroyed, the elderly in prison and the widows, my feelings will lead me to take this act of martyrdom. The first and last motive is purely religious,” said the suicide bombing volunteer.

Followers of Islamic Jihad oppose even Muslim leaders if they ally themselves in any way with the West. They believe other Muslims will face serious consequences if they will not be a part of jihad.

Sheik Darwish Al Gharabli is an Islamic Jihad political leader in Gaza. He said, “This enemy understands the language of blood, because the enemy (Israel) is the butcher. This resistance will not stop until the enemy is gone from the Sea (Mediterranean) to the River (Jordan), and from Rafah to Zefat. They (Jews) will not enjoy peace on the Palestinian soil.”

Islamic Jihad may seem like a small threat to countries beyond Israel, but with Syria as its headquarters and its funding source in Iran, the group is part of the much larger holy war against the West.

They say they will continue their jihad against the enemy of Islam all over the world until -- they say -- “Allah's word is superior.”