Tayseer al-Jabari

Al-Jabari lived in Gaza's Shuja'iyya neighborhood.[5] His name appears in sources under several transliterations, including Tayseer al-Jabari, Taysir al-Jabari, and Taiseer Jabari.[6]

His ascent within PIJ's military wing accelerated after senior figure Majed Kharazin was killed in December 2007, after which al-Jabari advanced through the organization's chain of command.[7] He served as an aide to Baha Abu al-Ata, the commander of PIJ's northern Gaza sector, before Abu al-Ata was killed by the IDF in November 2019 during Operation Black Belt.[5] Al-Jabari subsequently assumed Abu al-Ata's role, becoming commander of PIJ's Northern Gaza Division and holding other positions, including head of operations.[5][7] By the time of his death, he had been a PIJ member for decades.[2]

As commander of PIJ's Northern Gaza Division, al-Jabari was a member of the Al-Quds Brigades military council and was responsible for the organization's northern Gaza sector.[6] He served as PIJ's primary coordinator with Hamas and oversaw its rocket arsenal.[2]

During the 2021 Israel-Gaza conflict known as Operation Guardian of the Walls, the IDF attributed extensive terrorist activity to al-Jabari. IDF Spokesman Brigadier General Ran Kochav stated that al-Jabari "directed attacks during Operation Guardian of the Walls and oversaw the firing of hundreds of rockets against Israel."[2] A cell under his command also shot at an Israeli civilian vehicle near the Gaza border during that conflict, lightly wounding one Israeli.[2] The IDF separately stated that al-Jabari was responsible for a plan that resulted in a civilian jeep being struck and one civilian injured.[7]

In the year before his death, al-Jabari also headed PIJ's operations department and coordinated the organization's activities with Hamas.[5] The IDF stated that he had planned and promoted attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers using anti-tank launchers and was responsible for organizational decisions and continuing efforts to carry out attacks against Israeli communities.[3][7]

The sequence of events leading to al-Jabari's death began on August 1, 2022, when Israeli forces arrested senior PIJ official Bassam al-Saadi in Jenin, in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria.[8] A Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs account said al-Jabari was coordinating with PIJ leadership in Lebanon to prepare retaliatory anti-tank missile and sniper attacks near the Gaza border.[9] The IDF had also collected intelligence about al-Jabari's attack plans in the weeks before the operation.[2]

On August 5, 2022, at 16:16, Israel launched Operation Breaking Dawn with coordinated strikes on several targets over 170 seconds.[10] The operation had been planned in advance, and IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi gave final approval on the day of the attack.[10] A senior Israeli military officer said: "We waited for an operational and intelligence opportunity, after approval of an orderly plan, in order to carry out the targeted killing and the strikes."[5]

Al-Jabari was in an apartment on the sixth floor of a 14-story residential building in Gaza City's Shuja'iyya neighborhood when the strike occurred.[10] According to Israeli military accounts, a Rafael-developed smart bomb penetrated an empty room on the floor above and caused the floor to collapse onto al-Jabari's apartment. The targeting method was selected to reduce the risk to an uninvolved family in a nearby apartment.[11][10] Ynet reported that al-Jabari's wife was apparently also killed.[10]

Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz described the operation's aim as removing a concrete threat to Israeli civilians and communities near the Gaza border.[7] PIJ's eulogy for al-Jabari, reproduced by the Long War Journal, identified him as "the commander of the al-Quds army in the northern region of the Gaza Strip" and mourned him alongside others killed in the strikes.[3]

Following the opening strikes, PIJ launched more than 1,000 rockets toward Israel during a three-day clash.[1] Israeli forces conducted 147 airstrikes against targets in Gaza.[8] Khaled Mansour, al-Jabari's counterpart as PIJ commander in southern Gaza, was killed by Israeli jets later in the campaign.[9] Fighting ended with an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire late on August 7, 2022.[9] Israel stated that it had killed "the entire senior security echelon" of PIJ's military wing in Gaza during the operation.[4]

At the time of his death, al-Jabari was identified by the U.S. Department of State as one of PIJ's "two most senior commanders," alongside Khaled Mansour.[1] Their deaths, together with those of other senior PIJ field commanders, significantly disrupted the organization's military leadership in Gaza; Israel said the operation had eliminated PIJ's entire senior military-security echelon there.[4] The Institute for National Security Studies characterized al-Jabari's killing as the opening action of Operation Breaking Dawn and said it thwarted PIJ preparations to attack Israelis.[12]

Al-Jabari had succeeded Baha Abu al-Ata, who was killed in an Israeli targeted strike in 2019, as commander of PIJ's northern Gaza sector.[2] The Jewish Virtual Library's list of Israeli targeted killings groups al-Jabari with Abdallah Kadum and Khaled Mansour as PIJ commanders collectively held responsible for rocket and terrorist attacks and for constructing attack tunnels.[13]

Casualty figures from Operation Breaking Dawn were reported differently by Israeli and Palestinian sources. Gazan authorities reported 49 Palestinians killed, including 12 PIJ members, while Israel reported 35 Palestinians killed, including 15 deaths attributed to rockets fired by PIJ itself.[8] PIJ acknowledged that 12 of its fighters were killed, and at least 11 civilian deaths were attributed to errant PIJ rockets.[4] The U.S. Department of State recorded the differing Israeli and Gazan figures without reconciling them.[8]