On October 30th the BBC News website reported the story of the controlled detonation by Israel of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad tunnel running from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Since then, however, audiences have seen no follow-up reporting on what is still an ongoing story – despite BBC journalists in the region being aware of developments.
On November 5th Israel announced that it had found the bodies of five PIJ operatives inside the tunnel.
“Israel has recovered the bodies of five Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists that were buried when the army destroyed a Gazan attack tunnel that crossed into Israeli territory last week, the IDF announced on Sunday. […]
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad responded to the announcement, saying that Israel “will not be able to bargain over our fighters.”
“Our battle is open and shall not end. The freedom tunnel is not the only tunnel owned by the Islamic Jihad. It has many tunnels and many options,” warned Ahmad al-Mudalal, a senior member of the group. […]
The five recovered by Israel were apparently diggers who had been working inside the tunnel at the time of the strike. They were found inside Israeli territory, on the Israeli side of the security fence, the army said.”
On November 11th Israel put out a warning to the PIJ.
“In an Arabic video message, an Israeli general on Saturday publicly warned the Palestinian Islamic Jihad to abandon plans to carry out a retaliatory attack in response to Israel destroying the terrorist group’s attack tunnel that crossed from Gaza into Israel last month.
Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, who runs the Defense Ministry’s chief liaison office with the Palestinians, recorded a YouTube video in which he addressed the terror group’s leaders in Syria, warning that Israel knew of their plans and was prepared to respond to them.
“We are aware of the plot that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is planning against Israel,” Mordechai said in Arabic. “
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad responded by describing the video warning as “threats” and “a declaration of war”, saying it had the “right to respond to the crime of aggression on the resistance tunnel”.
A BBC producer working in Israel also described the Israeli warning as a ‘threat’ on Twitter.
As the same BBC employee is aware, on November 13th the IDF arrested a senior PIJ operative in a village near Jenin.
“The Shin Bet security service confirmed that Tariq Qa’adan was picked up by the Israel Defense Forces in Arrabeh, southwest of Jenin, in the northern West Bank.
Qa’adan serves as a senior officer in the Gaza-based terror group’s West Bank wing, the Shin Bet said.”
On November 14th it was announced that the Iron Dome missile defence system had been deployed in central Israel.
“An Iron Dome missile defense battery was deployed in the Dan region — made up of Tel Aviv and the surrounding suburbs — it was revealed on Tuesday, a day after the military said it had stationed several interceptors in central Israel to protect against a possible rocket attack.
The battery is one of several measures taken by the army to raise its alert level and response capabilities amid heightened tensions with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization since the army demolished the terrorist group’s border-crossing attack tunnel last month.
Also on Tuesday, the army closed off a number of tourist attractions near the Gaza border, out of concerns that the terrorist group may carry out a sniper attack on visitors.”
As has so often been the case in the past, should the situation escalate and Israel be forced to respond to an attack by the PIJ terror group, the BBC’s audiences will lack the background information necessary for understanding of the context to any such action.
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