Captured Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander admits receiving military training in Iran

A commander in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization, Basel Mahadi, who was captured by Israeli forces in late December, recently admitted during an interrogation that he had traveled to Iran to receive military training.

“My commander called me and said that I should go to Iran for a sniper course, I will benefit from it and my salary will increase when I return,” Mahadi told the Shin Bet security official interrogator in Arabic.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) organization is a Hamas ally in Gaza that is fully backed by the Islamist regime in Tehran. Mahadi was one of hundreds of terrorists in Gaza who received extensive military training in Iran before the Oct. 7 massacres, the Wall Street Journal reported in October.

The PIJ unit commander revealed that he traveled via Egypt, Syria and Lebanon before arriving in Iran for training.

“I went from the Gaza Strip to Egypt where I stayed for about two weeks; from there I went to Syria for a few days and then to Lebanon. After two weeks, we went from Syria to Iran,” Mahadi revealed, adding that he received about $1,000 to cover his expenditures.

“In Iran, the course was 15 days. It had physical fitness training and shooting training on different types of weapons,” the former PIJ commander added.

Israel has accused the Iranian regime of being behind the Hamas-led Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel's border communities, when terrorists massacred more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians.

In addition, Hamas and PIJ terrorist operatives kidnapped about 240 hostages into the Gaza Strip, with about 136 captives remaining, with at least 25 of whom are already dead.

In October, IDF senior spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Daniel Hagari confirmed that Iran’s extensive support of terror organizations continues amid the ongoing war with Hamas and PIJ.

“Before the war, Iran directly assisted Hamas with money, training and weapons and technological know-how,” Hagari said. “Even now, Iran is helping Hamas with intelligence,” he added.

While the Iranian regime has denied any involvement, Tehran has nevertheless praised the Oct. 7 invasion and attack, which Israelis have since dubbed the "Black Shabbat."

The Islamist regime has openly called for the destruction of the Jewish state for years and uses terror proxies, such as Hamas, PIJ in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and others across the Middle East, to attack Israel and the United States.

In addition, there is reportedly considerable cooperation between various Iranian-backed terror groups.

One month before the Hamas massacres in Israel, Hezbollah Sec.-Gen. Hassan Nasrallah hosted senior PIJ and Hamas officials in Beirut, Lebanon. The purpose of the high-level summit was reportedly to coordinate and strengthen the already existing alliance.

In recent weeks, Iran has stepped up its deliveries of weapons to its terror proxies via Syria. The Israeli Air Force has responded by increasing its attacks on Iranian military targets and weapons deliveries to prevent the transfer of game-changing weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas and PIJ in Gaza.