Islamic Jihad commander’s son captured, 1 killed in IDF anti-terror raid

“During the operation, suspects threw stones, Molotov cocktails and explosives at the troops, who responded by shooting,” the IDF said in a statement.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

The son of a top Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) commander was arrested overnight Monday in an anti-terror raid in Jenin, several months after the arrest of his father triggered rocket launches from the Gaza Strip.

Hebrew-language media reported that Bassam Saadi’s son Yahya was taken into custody by Israeli security forces in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

In August, after the elder Saadi was arrested, operatives of the terror group in the Gaza Strip targeted Israeli communities with rocketfire for two days.

Channel 12 News reported that video footage which captured the arrest of the younger Saadi is widely circulating on Palestinian social media, sparking concerns that PIJ terrorists in the Strip will once again lash out against Israel in retaliation.

Also early Tuesday morning, a 22-year-old Palestinian man was killed during an IDF operation near Bethelem.

“During the operation, suspects threw stones, Molotov cocktails and explosives at the troops, who responded by shooting,” the IDF said in a statement.

“Hits” on people throwing projectiles at soldiers “were identified,” the army added.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said that four people had been wounded in clashes with IDF soldiers.

On Saturday evening, Gaza-based terrorists – widely believed to been affiliated with PIJ – fired rockets at Israel as a response to the arrest of several PIJ terrorists last week in Jenin.

The IDF responded by bombing a Hamas weapons and rockets manufacturing site near Rafah in the southern Strip, and the terror group shot anti-aircraft and surface-to-air missiles at IAF jets.

Although attempts to down the IAF aircraft were unsuccessful, they represent an escalation between Gaza-based terror groups and Israel.

The Gulf Kingdom of Qatar, which is a major funder of both Hamas and provider of financial aid to Palestinian civilians in the Strip, reportedly pressured the terror groups not to launch rockets at Israel for the duration of the World Cup.

The World Cup is currently being held in Qatar, and the country is contending with major public relations crises on the world stage around its human rights record and logistical errors in planning the tournament.

GazaHamasIDFIslamic JihadJeninOperation Wave BreakerPalestinian Islamic JihadPalestinian terrorists