Israel beefs up security and deploys drones on Gaza border ahead of possible attacks

The Israeli Army has increased its surveillance tasks in the border area with the Gaza Strip, including the deployment of drones, in view of the possibility of attacks by Islamic Jihad in response to the arrest on Monday of one of its senior officers in a raid in Jenin.

According to reports carried by the Israeli daily ‘Haaretz’, Israeli troops have deployed drones in the area capable of targeting Palestinian militiamen attempting to carry out attacks in the border area, including the use of grenade launchers or anti-tank weapons.

Israel’s Army Chief Aviv Kohavi has been deployed to the area and has reviewed the situation after the start of a third day of movement and movement restrictions on the border that have affected nearly 5,000 Israeli residents.

For their part, Israel’s Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Yair Lapid and Benjamin Gantz, respectively, have addressed the situation and stated that they will continue to analyze the developments at the border, without giving further details.

Over the past few hours, around 20 Palestinians have been arrested in the framework of raids carried out by Israeli forces in several West Bank localities, according to local and Palestinian security sources quoted by the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Monday’s raid in a Jenin refugee camp resulted in the death of a Palestinian teenager and the arrest of Basam Saadi, a senior Islamic Jihad official, and his son-in-law Ashraf al Jada.

Saadi, 61, has been imprisoned and released a total of seven times by Israeli security forces. The Shin Bet had noted over the past few months that the man “works hard to restore Islamic Jihad activities” and that he “is behind the establishment of a significant military force” of the group in the West Bank, especially in Jenin.