Special to WorldTribune.com

GAZA CITY — The Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad has reported a sharp
growth in membership and weapons in 2011.

Jihad said it has trained more than 8,000 fighters for a war with
Israel. The Iranian-sponsored militia was also said to have amassed some
5,000 missiles and rockets, which included the largest long-range arsenal in
the Gaza Strip.

“We have at least 8,000 fighters who are fully equipped,” Jihad
spokesman Abu Jihad said.

[On Dec. 7, the Israel Air Force attacked two Jihad rocket cells in the northern Gaza Strip. Jihad reported the death of one of its rocket squad members.]

In November, Jihad provided the first specific claims on the militia’s military strength. Abu Jihad, in meetings with Western news agencies, acknowledged Teheran’s help to the Palestinian movement, deemed terrorist by the European Union and the United States.

Abu Jihad did not deny reports that Iran was providing Jihad more advanced missiles and rockets than Hamas. He also did not deny that Iran was training Jihad’s military wing, called Al Quds Brigades.

On Oct. 26, Jihad was said to have sustained a harsh blow when five
senior operatives were killed in an Israel Air Force strike in the southern
Gaza town of Rafah. The casualties included Jihad’s missile developer and
his aides.

Within two days, Jihad fired scores of rockets deep into Israel,
striking such cities as Ashdod and Beersheba. The militia also reported the
development of a multiple-launch rocket platform.

“Al Quds Brigades really surprised Israel, forcing them to rethink their
assessment of us,” the Jihad spokesman said. “I don’t think they realized we
had that weaponry.”

Abu Jihad did not report any Hamas backlash to the mini-war with Israel
in late October. He said the biggest threat to Jihad operations was the
Israel Air Force’s fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles.

“You can’t just hide a gun in your jacket like you could in the 1980s,”
Abu Jihad said.

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