UPDATES

Gaza Academic: Israel’s targeted killing policy works

Mar 14, 2012 | Ahron Shapiro

Gaza Academic: Israel's targeted killing policy works
news_item/Drone_Missile.jpg

Israel, which has sometimes been criticised in the media for targeting terror kingpins in Gazan airstrikes, has received a validation of the policy’s effectiveness in curbing terrorism from an unlikely source: A Gazan university professor.

Mukhaimer Abu Saada, professor of political science at Al-Azhar University in Gaza City, told the AFP in an article published March 12 that Israel’s strategy has been very successful.

“The Israeli targeted assassinations against Palestinian resistance groups, especially against their leaders, is very effective,” said Mukhaimer Abu Saada, professor of political science at Al-Azhar University in Gaza City.
“It is definitely a policy that aims at paralysing these groups and stopping them from carrying out future attacks against Israel,” he told AFP.
In such groups, which tend to have a very centralised structure, taking out the top commander “definitely has a very effective and negative impact on their operational methods,” he said.
And although the groups are capable of quickly replacing assassinated leaders, it still takes some time for them to become operational again, and replacing them sometimes creates internal problems, he added.

On this issue, Abu Saada found himself in agreement with former Shin Bet director Avi Dichter, who was also interviewed in the story.
Calling targeted killings a “very effective means” of curbing terrorism, Dichter told the reporter that for a variety of reasons, Israel prefers not to resort to such means if it could be avoided, but sometimes it is the best option for derailing a planned terror attack.

Tags:

RELATED ARTICLES


D11a774c 2a47 C987 F4ce 2d642e6d9c8d

Bibi in DC, the Houthi threat and the politicised ICJ opinion

Jul 26, 2024 | Update
Image: Shutterstock

Nine months after Oct. 7: Where Israel stands now

Jul 10, 2024 | Update
Palestinian Red Crescent workers from Al-Najjar Hospital in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip (Image: Shutterstock)

Hamas’ impossible casualty figures

Mar 28, 2024 | Update
455daec3 C2a8 8752 C215 B7bd062c6bbc

After the Israel-Hamas ceasefire for hostages deal

Nov 29, 2023 | Update
Screenshot of Hamas bodycam footage as terrorists approach an Israeli vehicle during the terror organisation's October 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel, released by the IDF and GPO (Screenshot)

Horror on Video / International Law and the Hamas War

Oct 31, 2023 | Update
Sderot, Israel. 7th Oct, 2023. Bodies of dead Israelis lie on the ground following the attacks of Hamas (Image: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/Alamy Live News)

Israel’s Sept. 11, only worse

Oct 11, 2023 | Update

RECENT POSTS

Screenshot 2024 11 20 At 4.49.05 PM

Australia out of step with US and other allies on UN vote: Joel Burnie on Sky News

UNRWA is portrayed as the “backbone” of Gaza aid efforts, but actually supplied only 13% of aid there over recent months (Image: Anas Mohammed/ Shutterstock)

An empire of perpetual suffering

Foreign Minister Penny Wong and PM Anthony Albanese have degraded our relationship with our most important Middle Eastern partner (Screenshot)

The consequences of Australia’s Mideast policy shifts since October 7

An extension of the Abraham Accords that saw a string of Middle Eastern countries making peace with Israel is likely to be a priority (Image: Whitehouse.gov/ Flickr)

Trump and the Middle East

French UNIFIL soldiers in southern Lebanon (Image: Shutterstock)

Lebanon: Optimism and obstacles

Screenshot 2024 11 20 At 4.49.05 PM

Australia out of step with US and other allies on UN vote: Joel Burnie on Sky News

UNRWA is portrayed as the “backbone” of Gaza aid efforts, but actually supplied only 13% of aid there over recent months (Image: Anas Mohammed/ Shutterstock)

An empire of perpetual suffering

Foreign Minister Penny Wong and PM Anthony Albanese have degraded our relationship with our most important Middle Eastern partner (Screenshot)

The consequences of Australia’s Mideast policy shifts since October 7

An extension of the Abraham Accords that saw a string of Middle Eastern countries making peace with Israel is likely to be a priority (Image: Whitehouse.gov/ Flickr)

Trump and the Middle East

French UNIFIL soldiers in southern Lebanon (Image: Shutterstock)

Lebanon: Optimism and obstacles

SORT BY TOPICS