Dear Christian Leader,

This past weekend, Israel conducted "Operation Breaking Dawn," a preemptive military effort designed to neutralize imminent threats against Israel made by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The PIJ is a terrorist organization that operates from within the Gaza Strip on Israel's border in the south. It is funded, supplied and directed by the Iranian regime, and exists for the sole purpose of destroying the Jewish State.

As of 11:30 pm Sunday night, a cease fire is in place. During the 66-hour conflict, 1100 rockets were fired from Gaza towards population centers in Israel. There were no major civilian casualties thanks to the effectiveness of Israel's Iron Dome, which intercepts missiles before they strike. However, the PIJ still has thousands more rockets ready to fire, and Iran is ever ready to resupply its terrorist proxy.

Whether the cease fire holds or not, you need to know the facts about Operation Breaking Dawn and the circumstances that made it necessary because lies about Israel's actions are already circulating throughout the media.

Operation Breaking Dawn was planned in response to known plans on the part of the PIJ to carry out what was to be a large-scale terrorist attack against the citizens of Israel. The PIJ had declared its intentions publicly and made obvious preparations to carry out its agenda. In response to these threats, the IDF arrested a senior jihadist leader last week who was spearheading the build-up of the organization's military force. Then on Friday afternoon, the IDF struck a terror cell preparing an anti-tank missile attack and made a targeted killing of PIJ's northern Gaza commander, Tayseer Jabari, who according to IDF intelligence, had been planning multiple attacks for weeks.

In retaliation for these preemptive defensive actions on the part of the IDF, the PIJ started firing rockets from Gaza towards Israeli civilian centers on Friday evening. In response, Israel initiated precision pinpoint strikes on terrorist sites in Gaza. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi explained the goals of Operation Breaking Dawn as follows: “One is to prevent all attacks [against the home front] and, two, to critically attack the Islamic Jihad organization [in Gaza], in Judea and Samaria and all other sectors.”

According to an IDF briefing, the PIJ fired 1,100 rockets at southern and central Israel between Friday and Sunday evenings. One in five of those rockets didn't make it to Israel but fell in Gaza itself. This means that almost 900 of those rockets actually entered Israeli airspace where 95-97% of those that didn't fall into the sea or open areas were intercepted by the Iron Dome. Most of the rockets targeted the civilian population in southern Israel, but some went as far north as Jerusalem, Modiin and Tel Aviv. In all, approximately 1.5 million Israeli civilians were forced to take shelter over the course of the weekend and dozens were treated for light injuries incurred while running for shelter and for shock.

In the same time period, the IDF eliminated 140 PIJ targets in Gaza, including weapons manufacturing and storage sites, observation posts and rocket-launching pads. In addition, dozens of terrorists were killed in the Israeli strikes, including all the senior leaders of the PIJ. Major General Oded Basiuk, the head of operations in the IDF, told the media Saturday night that “the entire security elite of the Islamic Jihad has been eliminated.”

In its initial round of airstrikes on Friday, the IDF killed senior PIJ commander Tayseer Jabari, who was responsible for numerous rocket attacks in May 2021 during “Operation Guardian of the Walls,” an 11-day battle initiated by Hamas and PIJ against Israel. And the PIJ confirmed on Sunday morning that Khaled Mansour, the commander of the organization’s southern division, was also eliminated. For years, Mansour had been involved in dozens of incidents of rocket fire, mortar bombs and anti-tank missiles. During Operation Guardian of the Walls in 2021, he was responsible for hundreds of rocket launches towards Israel.

It's important to note that the precision strike on Mansour was postponed because IDF surveillance showed children playing in the vicinity when the strike was originally scheduled to occur. The delay in taking out a dangerous terrorist due to precautions the IDF takes to do whatever possible to not endanger civilians is a stark contrast to the intentional targeting of Israeli civilians by Islamic jihadists. Israel protects civilians - Islamic jihadists target them.

One of a number of lies currently being spread about Operation Breaking Dawn has to do with the deaths of seven Palestinian civilians in Jabaliya from a rocket, which the PIJ and sympathetic media claim was launched from Israel. However, as documented by video evidence presented below, it is clear that the civilians in question (including four children aged 9-11 and one 19-year-old) were killed by one of the over 200 rockets fired by jihadists that fell short in Gaza rather than making it to their intended targets in Israel.

Here again, the total disregard for the lives of civilians - especially children - on the part of terrorists is blatantly demonstrated. The PIJ rocket that killed those seven Gazans misfired after being launched from a mosque. It is common practice for jihadists to use mosques, schools and hospitals as launching sites for rockets fired at Israel. In so doing, the PIJ and other like organizations commit what is a double war crime. The first crime is shooting at civilian populations in Israel. The second crime is the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields. Terrorists hide behind civilians in order to make it much more difficult for Israel to target their launching sites, and so they can propagate anti-Israel lies that accuse Israel of targeting those civilians.

To refute the false claim that it was an Israeli strike that killed the civilians in Jabaliya, the IDF published this video, clearly showing a barrage of rockets launched by the PIJ, including one that fell between buildings in Jabaliya at the location in which the civilians were killed.   

On Saturday, 8/6, the IDF posted on Twitter the following map and description of the radar tracking of that same rocket barrage, including the one that fell short and blew up in Jabaliya. As you can see below, the rocket in question was fired by the PIJ at the time the civilians were killed. The place where the rocket landed is marked by the green circle. That location is also marked by a blue dot, used to show the point of impact of rockets that didn't make it out of Gaza after being fired from one of the two launching sites marked by red dots.

Take note of the number of blue dots, all of which mark sites where jihadist rockets landed INSIDE Gaza, killing and wounding Palestinian citizens. By launching rockets from the cover of civilian institutions (in the case of Jabaliya, it was a mosque), the PIJ and other terrorist organizations endanger the lives of their own people and demonstrate their total disregard for all civilian life - Palestinian and Israeli.

CAMERA IS LOOKING FOR A NEW CHRISTIAN MEDIA ANALYST!

Would you, or someone you know, like to work on behalf of Israel
in a full-time capacity?

CAMERA is currently seeking a Christian Media Analyst to help expand the Partnership's work in countering misinformation about Israel broadcast by churches, para-church organizations and news outlets that serve the Christian community throughout the world. This person will monitor, and when appropriate, counter misinformation targeting all Christian communities while focusing on efforts to promote anti-Israel propaganda in the American Evangelical community.

Core Responsibilities:

- Monitor Christian news outlets for misinformation and work with other CAMERA researchers to counter this messaging.
- Monitor, and counter, anti-Israel propaganda and theology promoted by Palestinian Christians in Western church environments.
- Work to promote an accurate understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Israeli and Jewish history and the status of Christians living in Muslim-majority environments among Christians.
- Work with Christians to counter anti-Israel propaganda in their faith communities, with an emphasis on the Evangelical community.
- Submit articles detailing problems associated with Christian anti-Zionism.
- Review and effectively refute anti-Zionists texts targeting Christians.
- Attend conferences as either a speaker or researcher as budget allows.
- Interact with donors and supporters to promote CAMERA’s mission.
- Network with Christians from the Middle East and promote their story to Christians in U.S.
- Provide content for the CAMERA website and for its affiliated website, CAMERA’s Partnership of Christians and Jews.

Skills/Experience:

- Four-year degree in a relevant field – Middle East Studies, politics, theology, or church history.
- Demonstrated interest in Christian/Jewish relations.
- Strong writing and research skills.
- Journalism experience a plus.
- Ability to work productively in a team setting.

Location: CAMERA National Offices in Boston area.

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.

Send resume and cover letter to jobs@camera.org. No phone calls, please. Email subject line: Christian Media Analyst