The report stated that Al-Khalek severely criticized Yahya Sinwar, and asked Al-Nakhla: "Do all of you in the Islamic Jihad want to die? Are you satisfied with your situation?" He compared Sinwar to a crazy bus driver, who drives Islamic Jihad operatives to his death and to their death with him.

The Islamic Jihad saw this conversation as an attempt by Egypt to drive a wedge between the organization and Hamas, but they say that Al-Nakhla replied to Al-Khalek with a smile: "We got on this bus because we trust the driver to bring us to the right stop, and if that doesn't happen, we will all die together."

Indeed, the Islamic Jihad organization has been operating since October 7 in full coordination with Hamas in the war against Israel.

The popular newspaper "Al-Sharq Alawest" reported on August 22 that the Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip took 30 Israeli hostages during the October 7 attack. This is what Al-Nakhala claims. The estimate in the Gaza Strip at the moment is that seven Israeli hostages remain in the hands of the organization, after most of them were released in the first round of the hostage deal a few months ago.

According to the report, in recent weeks, and especially after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, there has been an increase in joint activity between Hamas and the Islamic Jihad not only in the Gaza Strip, but also in Judea and Samaria. The two organizations accepted joint responsibility for the recent bomb attack in Tel Aviv, which was carried out by a Hamas operative from Nablus.

On May 9, 2023, the IDF launched a military operation against the Islamic Jihad, Operation Shield and Arrow, following rocket attacks on Israel. At the time, Hamas sat on the fence, did not participate in the operation, and did not help the Islamic Jihad launch rockets at Israel. During the operation, the IDF eliminated six senior officials at the top of the military arm of the Islamic Jihad.

The Islamic Jihad is the second largest terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, and has close ties with Iran, which provides it with weapons and funds and trains its operatives abroad. It was founded in the 1980s by Fathi Shakaki, who was eliminated in Malta by the Mossad Israeli in 1995.

The organization is currently headed by Al-Nakhala, who serves as the organization's secretary general. The head of its military arm, called "Saraya Al-Quds", is Akram El-Ajuri, whom Israel tried to eliminate several times but failed.

The terrorists of the Islamic Jihad participated in the attack and massacre by Hamas in the settlements surrounding Gaza on October 7. Also, they fought alongside Hamas terrorists, especially in the battle for the Shifa hospital. But in the end the IDF forces were able to capture the hospital compound, capture senior terrorists there and kill many others.

Security sources say that since the beginning of the war, Iran has made sure that the Islamic Jihad organization is not in a financial crisis, and financially supports the organization, which regularly pays the monthly salaries to its operatives, despite the difficult economic and humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

According to sources in the Islamic Jihad, most of the leaders of the political and military wing of the organization managed to stay alive since the beginning of the war. They seem to be hiding in tunnels deep in the ground and in other hiding places on the surface of the ground.

However, the IDF managed to eliminate battalion commanders and company commanders of the Islamic Jihad, and many activists of the organization, who were engaged in launching rockets at Israel and participated in face-to-face battles with IDF soldiers in various places in the Gaza Strip.

During the war, the IDF eliminated Muhammad Al-Jabari, a senior member of the Islamic Jihad's military wing, and Ashraf Juda, the commander of the center division of the organization's military wing.

Islamic Jihad claims that the organization managed to maintain most of its rocket arsenal better than Hamas. Security officials in Israel claim that this is not true, and are intended to glorify the organization that continues to claim that it occasionally launches rockets at Israel, especially at the settlements surrounding Gaza, in short volleys in order to maintain the reserve of rockets it has.

Most of the rockets in the hands of the Islamic Jihad have a short range of up to 8 km, and it also has heavy mortars that launch shells at a distance of 3 to 5 km.

Yoni Ben Menachem, NEWSRAEL Contributor and Epoch magazine commentator on Middle East affairs, is an expert in the field who has covered significant events in Israeli history, such as the first and second intifadas, military operations and more. He speaks the Arabic language in several different dialects, and has connections with senior figures in the Arab world, as well as in the political and military leadership in Israel. Ben Menachem served as editor-in-chief and CEO of the Israel Broadcasting Authority.