Son of senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist arrested, second terrorist killed in armed clashes Monday
Operation Break the Wave started in March as an attempt to stop a sharp rise in terror attacks
Israeli security forces arrested the son of a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group on Monday, following clashes with PIJ fighters who threw bombs at Israeli Defense Forces soldiers.
Israeli forces’ arrest of Yahya al-Saadi, son of PIJ official Bassam al-Saadi, in Jenin, came three days after a firefight between “Jenin Brigade” Islamic Jihad fighters and Israeli forces and one day after a rocket was fired from Gaza toward cities in southern Israel.
Al-Saadi’s arrest marks another success in Israel’s Break the Wave counter-terrorism operation, launched in response to the murders of 19 Israelis earlier this year.
On a second mission to arrest wanted terrorists near Bethlehem, a firefight broke out between IDF forces and Palestinian terrorists, leading to fatal injuries for one terrorist and wounding six others. On this mission, Israeli forces arrested three terrorists affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Overnight, Israeli forces, including members of the IDF, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and the Israel Border Police, arrested 14 Palestinians throughout the West Bank.
Operation Breaking Dawn began with Bassam al-Saadi’s arrest in August in Gaza. PIJ forces in Gaza retaliated by firing more than 1,000 rockets towards Israel.
The operation started in March, under former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, as an attempt to stop a sharp rise in terror attacks.
At the time, Bennett described Israel as “experiencing a wave of murderous terrorism and, just like in all the previous waves, we will prevail together.”
There are concerns that a growing wave of attacks could turn into another intifada, or mass Palestinian uprising against Israelis and Jews. Israel’s counter-terrorism operation aims at preventing coordinated terror attacks and gaining intelligence through interrogation of the arrested terrorists.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
