 Friday afternoon to launch a proactive move and attack targets of the Palestinian-Islamic jihad in the enclave. Meanwhile, IDF is reinforcing the Iron Dome in the Ortev station near the border, while additional armoured forces are being reinforced along Israel's border with Gaza. The military strike comes shortly after the Defense Minister Benny Gantz sent a strong warning to the Palestinian-Islamic jihad that Israel would take action if the terror group does not back down from its attentions to carry out a revenge attack. His warning coming after visiting the IDF's southern command, where tensions have remained high since Monday evening when Israeli Defense Forces arrested the terror group's West Bank leader Basam Saadi in Janin. Since then, the Israel Defense Forces has bolstered its troops and shuttered routes along the border due to fear of an imminent attack. Now, the precautions have largely placed residents of the border communities under a lockdown, which is set to continue over the weekend. The prolonged closures have caused anger among many Israeli residents of the South, with the Israel Defense Minister having to address that sentiment as well. The State of Israel has a great responsibility to protect you. The citizens of Israel and the residents in the House have shown throughout the years a civil resilience that deserves all appreciation. Our mission is to ensure that the tension is over and routine is back. I say to the residents of the surrounding area, we are with you and will do everything necessary to protect you with the responsibility and determination, and according to considerations of the use of force that will lead to the required result to our enemies in general and to the leaders of Hamas and Islamic jihad, I say explicitly, your time is limited. The threat will be removed one way or another. And joining us now from the Zikim Junction, which is near the Gaza Borders, our defense correspondent Jonathan Regiff. Jonathan, you are relatively close to the border. Give us a sense of just how close and if you can hear or see anything. Yes, the Batia were roughly five miles to the north of the Gaza border. We heard some explosions when the attack began some 40 minutes ago, constant sounds of airplanes and helicopters in the sky above us. We just heard a defense minister, Benny Gantt, saying that the leaders of Hamas and Islamic jihad, their time, their time will eventually come, as it seems for Taiseer Jabri, who was the leader of the Islamic jihad in the Gaza Strip, that time has come. Palestinian reports out of Gaza suggest he was the target of that first attack. Taiseer Jabri, the leader of the Islamic jihad, the men who were replaced by Ha'abul Atah, the men killed by Israel back in November 2019 in a previous round, previous escalation, which back then was also held by Israel and the Islamic jihad. Israel is specifically targeting Islamic jihad targets at this time, no Hamas targets for the time being. Why so? Israel is hoping to make the difference between the two organizations, thus keeping Hamas, which is far bigger and far stronger, out of this conflict. Will that be the case? We of course don't know. What we do know is that the residents of all of the surrounding communities around the Gaza Strip, whether the regional councils and also the cities of Ashkelon, Edsdorod, the residents there have been instructed to stay close to protect the areas, protect the shelters, even the residents of Ashdod, which is further to the north, some 25 miles or so from the Gaza border, have been instructed to pay attention. And also we know that the Iron Dome batteries have been reinforced, not only here in the Gaza border area where we are, but also in central Israel. If we go back to that attack in 2019, we can remember that at the time, a Islamic jihad did fire rockets towards central Israel. Israel carried out that first strike signaling to the Islamic jihad that the patience is over for nearly four days. All of the roads along the Gaza border have been closed for fear of the anti-tank squads, which are waiting for Israeli cars on the other side of the border, following that wait Israel signaling that its patience is done and setting out on the offensive. Now the big question is what kind of response will we see from the Gaza Strip? Will it be a limited response or something bigger? Will Hamas join the Islamic jihad? Or not at the moment we have to wait for some kind of response. The assumption in Israel and in all of the communities around us is that a response will come, rockets will be fired, what kind of a response we, of course, have to wait and see. Right, and just touching on that response, Jonathan, how likely is it in the sense of the Iron Dome batteries being put out as well? The operation has already been given a name of breaking dawn. If an operation has been given a name, are we likely to assume that it is not going to be a short operation and that the closures on the border could continue as long as an escalation is threatening? We know that the directives to the communities here around the Gaza border have been given at least, at least until tomorrow at 8 p.m., meaning the IDF is assuming that this is not something that Israel is striking, the Islamic jihad will send something, maybe Israel will bomb another post and that's it. This is probably not the case and this is something Israel has been preparing for for quite some time, a few days at least since the roads here have been closed. If you target the head of the Islamic jihad in Gaza with such a precise attack outside of his home or outside his car, that means that this is something that Israel has been preparing for. Israel is also preparing for a response from Gaza. The assumption in Israel is that this clearly will not take a few hours but something longer, a day, two, three, no one really knows. Our defence correspondent Jonathan Regev breaking down the latest news from Zikim Junction near the Gaza border, thank you very much. We now move to Avi Pazna, the former Israeli ambassador to France and Italy, who joined us via Skype. Avi, I wanted to discuss with you, we are hearing that Iron Dome batteries have been deployed not only in and around the Gaza border enclave but also in areas further north with possible threats on Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. How likely are we to see something like that? Good evening, Bakya. We have to take into account that there will be a response perhaps not only by the Islamic Jihad but also perhaps the Hamas because what we have done, we have liquidated the very head, the military head of this murderous organisation, the Islamic Jihad. I don't think they expected that kind of reaction from Israel because for three or four days we have been showing a lot of restraint and we have been sending messages and we have been trying a mediation by the Egyptian and the Qatari, etc. But the threats on the path of the Islamic Jihad continued. So Israel had no alternative but to hit back and we hit at the very head and therefore we have to expect a strong answer at least on the path of the Islamic Jihad. I imagine that Iron Dome have been deployed all over Israel, not only around the Gaza Strip because we have to be ready for not only for the Jihad, maybe more, maybe more. And we may very well have now some days of fighting around Gaza ahead of us. Right. And I just want to touch on what you mentioned there. This was an extremely targeted attack on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad with the visuals coming out. You can clearly see parts of a building that were specifically targeted and not the entire compound. But with that being said, I'll remind our viewers the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a terror group that is stationed within the Gaza Strip but it is not the de facto ruler Hamas is. And so how likely is it everyone is sort of gearing up here in Israel since the announcement of this preemptive strike that we could be looking for a response from the Gaza Strip? How likely is it that Hamas would join in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in reinforcing or possibly triggering such a response? But yeah, we have evidently to take this into consideration. I mean, when you execute the kind of operation we did now against the head of the military branch of a major organization in Gaza, which is by the way supported by Iran, you know, Jihad, the Islamic Jihad is financed and supported by Iran. But when you hit the military head of that kind of organization, you have to expect a strong reaction also on the part of others. And I think those who decided this operation took into account that this is not a simple strike that you eliminate somebody or you arrest somebody, that there will be consequences. And I am sure and convinced that we have taken every step possible to meet all the consequences of this attack, but it was a position in which we were not ready to continue to be meaning to paralyze a part of our country because of threats from a terrorist organization for three days, for five days, maybe for more. This is unacceptable on the part of Israel. And we have to demonstrate that we do take this threat very seriously and that we will do everything possible to thwart them now and in the future. Right, Aviv. And I just want to touch on what you mentioned in terms of Iran's possible involvement. We are seeing reports that the Al-Quds Force, which is Iran's foreign operations of the IRGC, is likely to have been targeted in the strip as well. And I want to just bring, you know, this always kind of forces the question along this time of if such a strike is somehow connected to the political turmoil that's going on in Israel in terms of the fact that Israel has upcoming elections. Was this likely a political tool? I don't think it is politically motivated. As you have seen during the three or four days of closure around the Gaza Strip, we haven't heard criticism on the part of the Israeli opposition because I believe that defense matters and security matters are here a general agreement, are a consensus. And I don't think here there is any political angle to this decision. There is a military security angle, and as you mentioned, Al-Quds, which is also part of the front against Israel, is also present in the Gaza Strip and may have been targeted as well. And we have always to remember that we have here a very powerful enemy in front of us because the Islamic Jihad, which is a terrorist organization, is also an arm of the Iranian regime and can be activated just like the Hezbollah can be activated at any moment against Israel. So it was important now to teach them a good lesson that Israel will not be intimidated by the threat and that we take action and we take action directly at the head of the organization with all the consequences that we are ready to meet. And just briefly, as the former Israeli ambassador to both France and Italy, it's likely with the death toll that's coming out, we're now seeing that there's about five, this according to the Hamas Health Ministry, that have been killed so far in this pre-emptive strike. Israel, defense forces, we are known as being a defense force and not an attacking force. How is this going to be viewed in Europe as well as in the West and possibly other nations? You know, we always have to face criticism the moment we take military action in the Gaza Strip. We are regretfully used to it for many years now, and although we left the Gaza Strip from our own decision, and they enjoy complete freedom there, there still are a terrorist organization. Hamas is still a terrorist organization, which is recognized as such by Europe and by the U.S. But when we do take military action against this terrorist organization, very often we are being criticized. And we have to be ready to accept this criticism because our defense is more important than anything else. Quite correct there, Avi Perzner, the former Israeli ambassador to France and Italy. Thank you very much for joining us today. Thank you very much for having me. Roadblocks have been tightened for a fourth day in a row as southern Israel as precautions remain in place against the attack by a Palestinian Islamic jihad in Gaza, especially now as the IDF has launched a preemptive strike. Alec Pollard has the latest. For a third day in a row, roads blocked in southern Israel near the Gaza border as fears remain high, the Palestinian Islamic jihad in Gaza will launch an attack. The forces of the Gaza division have been on high alert for the past several days. We recognize the intentions of the Islamic jihad to carry out attacks against the residents of Gaza border communities and IDF soldiers, and therefore we have deployed roadblocks across the entire area. The roadblocks will continue as long as necessary. The second strongest faction in Gaza after Hamas has vowed revenge for the arrest of their leader, Injanin, in the West Bank on Monday, Basam Sadi. Now Islamic jihad operatives in Injanin are also threatening to respond, issuing a warning to Israel, in Arabic and Hebrew. You heard Sheikh Basam Sadi, who is not just a commander of the Islamic jihad here, he is a religious figure. This is a religious issue. This situation will not go on. We are awaiting instructions from Gaza how to respond. We are in this war with Gaza together. Islamic jihad have issued a series of demands via Egyptian mediators to Israel, including an end to Israeli counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank. Well we're going out for a short break, but stay with us. We'll have more breaking news after the break.