The Israeli army put its anti-rocket system on alert and ordered to close routes near the Gaza Strip for fear of attacks from the Palestinian enclave, after reporting the arrest of a head of radical Islamist group Islamic Jihad in West Bankthe other Palestinian territories, in an operation in which a young man was shot by soldiers.
The Israeli Army said in a statement that, after an assessment of the situation and the activities of armed groups linked to Islamic Jihad, “it was decided to blockade the areas and roads adjacent to the security fence with the Gaza Strip.” “The area was closed to civilians due to a direct threat and in order to prevent a possible attack against civilians,” the text added, Télam replied.
The note also announced the closure of a beach, the abolition of trains between the cities of Ashkelon Y Sderotas well as the closure of the passage of Erez, the only point that allows people to cross from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory. The Army’s decision comes hours after carrying out an operation in a refugee camp in Jenin which left a teenager dead and resulted in the arrest of two people.
According to the Israeli press, one of those arrested is Bassam Saadi, a senior member of Islamic Jihad, a radical Islamist movement that has claimed dozens of attacks, many of them suicide attacks, against Israelis, both civilians and military. The Israeli Army confirmed the operation but not Saadi’s arrest.
The Islamic Jihad, based in Gaza, declared itself in a state of “alert” after Saadi’s arrest, according to information collected by The Times of Israel. Saadi, 61, has been jailed and released a total of seven times by Israeli security forces.
Source: Elintransigente
