Israel arrests Islamic Jihad’s leader in West Bank

Israeli forces yesterday arrested senior Islamic Jihad leader Tariq Qa’adan after they stormed his house in the West Bank’s northern occupied city of Jenin.

Qa’adan’s family told Quds Press that the occupation forces stormed the leader’s house at 01:30 and arrested him, despite his poor health.

“We’re aware of your health conditions, but we will take you anyway,” one of the raiding Israeli officers was quoted by the Palestinian family as saying. He was due to undergo two surgeries as a result of a health condition, the family noted.

Qa’adan, 47, had spent 19 years held in Israeli jails, during which he was arrested 15 times by the occupation authorities. In 2013, he was held under administrative detention – without charge or trial – but was ultimately set free after carrying out a three-month long hunger strike.

Islamic Jihad: The PA’s actions aim to please the occupation

Israel has been targeting the Islamic Jihad movement following the Israeli-led attack on the Gaza Strip’s cross-border tunnel, fearing revenge by the movement.

On Saturday, the head of the Israeli military authority in the occupied Palestinian territories, Major General Yoav Mordechai, said: “We are aware of the plot that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group plans against Israel… they are playing with fire at the expense of all of Gaza’s residents.”

Israel bombed a Palestinian tunnel on the eastern borders of Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, killing 12 Palestinians.