Weapons Caches in Houses of Terrorist Operatives in the Gaza Strip: The Case Study of Ibrahim al-Shawaf, Senior PIJ Commander

Air Attack on the House of Ibrahim al-Shawaf

1.   During Operation Protective Edge the IDF has attacked the houses of terrorist operatives where weapons were stored and where military-terrorist activities were carried out. One of them was the house of senior PIJ terrorist operative Ibrahim al-Shawaf, attacked on July 8, 2014. The Palestinian media reported that the IDF had sent the residents a warning prior to the attack telling them to vacate the premises.

2.   According to an IDF video uploaded to YouTube on July 9, a weapons cache hidden in the house of a senior PIJ operative was attacked. The house also served as a gathering place for terrorist operatives and was located in a residential area of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip. The video shows secondary explosions caused, in ITIC assessment, by the detonation of explosives and weapons stored in the house of Ibrahim al-Shawaf.

The Identity of Ibrahim al-Shawaf

3.   According to the PIJ website and a PIJ-affiliated website, Ibrahim al-Shawaf is a commander of the Jerusalem Brigades, the PIJ's military-terrorist wing, in Khan Yunis. According to the websites, he is one of the senior PIJ figures whose houses were attacked (See below).

On July 9, 2014, the PIJ website Paltoday.tv claimed to have acquired "a list of the names of [Palestinian] Islamic Jihad and Jerusalem Brigades operatives [whose houses] were destroyed during the past two days." The house of Ibrahim al-Shawaf is number six on the list (arrow) (Paltoday.ps).

"The Zionist air force destroyed the house of Ibrahim al-Shawaf, a Jerusalem Brigades commander, in eastern Khan Yunis (Npaapress.com, a site openly affiliated with the Palestinian "resistance")

Examples of the Phenomenon of the Military Use of Terrorist Operatives' Houses in Operation Cast Lead

Weapons in Houses of Terrorists Attacked from the Air

4.   Using the houses of terrorist operatives to store weapons and carry out military-terrorist activities is familiar from the past. The extensive use of houses for terrorist purposes was exposed in Operation Cast Lead. For example, on December 27, 2008, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) attacked a Hamas weapons cache stored in the house of a terrorist operative in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. The previous day the IDF had warned the residents of its intention to attack the building and they were told to vacate the premises to prevent harm to uninvolved civilians. Not only did they not leave the house, but civilians mounted its roof to serve as human shields. In view of the situation the IAF fired warning shots with a different kind of ammunition to encourage them to leave the roof. Only after they left did the IAF attack the target. A strong secondary explosion proved that the house had in fact been used to store weapons.

5.   Another example from Operation Cast Lead was the attack on the house of senior Hamas operative Sheikh Nizar Riyan.^[1] On December 31, 2009, Nizar Riyan received a warning that the IAF was planning to attack his house in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. Weapons were stored in the house, and there was an escape tunnel under the house used by Hamas military-terrorist operatives (IDF Spokesman, January 1, 2009). Despite the warning, Nizar Riyan refused to leave. The IAF attacked the house, where in fact there was a stockpile of weapons, and after the initial attack there was a large number of secondary explosions. Riyan and his family were killed in the attack, and nearby-buildings suffered extensive damage.

 

Hamas terrorist operative Nizar Riyan: Residents will defend jihad operatives "with their bodies and souls…[after today] we will not allow Israel to attack the house of any jihad fighter…" (Palestinian TV, November 19, 2006).

Weapons Stored in Residential Buildings Exposed during the Ground Incursion of Operation Cast Lead

6.   During the ground incursion carried out in Operation Cast Lead IDF forces exposed large quantities of weapons stored in residential buildings, most of them belonging to terrorist operatives. The operatives used their houses as locations from which terrorist activities were launched and as warehouses for weapons which included light arms, ammunition, IEDs, rockets, explosives, grenades and a variety of military equipment. Several houses had been booby-trapped and some concealed openings to tunnels used for escape, exit to weapons caches, and/or the abduction of IDF soldiers. The following are some of the pictures made public by the IDF Spokesman during and after the operation:

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^[1] Two years previously Nizar Riyan joined a group of civilians in protecting the house of Hamas operative Muhammad Baroud. After the attack he said a campaign had begun "to protect the houses of jihad fighters" and that "from today jihad fighters will not allow Israel to attack their houses..." (Palestinian TV, November 19, 2006; Palmedia website, November 19 and 20, 2006)

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