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The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist group, after three days of violence that saw the Gaza-based terror group fire approximately 1,100 rockets at Israeli civilians, around 20 percent of which fell within Gaza.

Israel says it has achieved its objectives in eliminating many of PIJ’s senior military commanders in Gaza and destroying military infrastructure including weapons warehouses and rocket launchers. Tragically, 27 civilians were said to have been killed in Gaza, but PIJ’s tactic of hiding its military among civilians – a war crime – makes such casualties almost inevitable, despite Israel’s efforts to avoid them. Furthermore, more of these deaths were caused by misfiring PIJ rockets than by Israeli action.

AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein said, “The Gaza ceasefire is welcome, and AIJAC hopes it holds and the PIJ remains deterred from further terrorist violence.

“It is important to remember that the violence started because Israel was forced to act to prevent an imminent attack from PIJ, which is a terror proxy of Iran and is dedicated to destroying Israel. It was then perpetuated by PIJ firing rockets indiscriminately at Israel.

“Gaza is a tinderbox for the region, a gross threat to Israel, and a terrible place to live for its inhabitants. The only way to end this awful reality is to disarm the terror groups that make it so – Hamas and PIJ.

“We are pleased that many countries, including Australia, the US, the UK and various European nations, made statements condemning PIJ’s rockets and affirming Israel’s right to self-defence. It is now time for the international community to make concerted efforts to achieve such disarmament if there is to be any hope of avoiding another similar conflict in coming months,” Dr Rubenstein concluded.