Today, Saturday, the Israeli army announced the arrest of 19 members of the Islamic Jihad movement in the West Bank as it continues to strike targets in Gaza.
The army said in a statement that Shin Bet soldiers and internal security officials arrested 20 people during early morning raids in the West Bank, noting that 19 of them were members of the Palestinian terrorist organization Islamic Jihad.
On Friday, Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza, killing several people, including the leader of the Islamic Jihad movement, which responded with dozens of rockets at Israel.
Several sources have confirmed that Egypt is trying to mediate to ease tensions. An Egyptian security source said Cairo’s mediation efforts had been ongoing since Friday. “We hope to reach a consensus in order to restore calm as soon as possible,” he added.
Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht had previously mentioned Egyptian mediation when speaking to reporters about current events, but did not elaborate.
For its part, the Egyptian source said that today, on Saturday, a delegation of “Islamic Jihad” may go to Cairo.
In turn, the leader of the Hamas movement, Ismail Haniya, who lives in Doha, spoke with the leadership of the Egyptian intelligence about what is happening, the movement said in a statement.
On Friday, Israel said it launched a “preemptive strike” against Islamic Jihad that killed the leader of Saraya al-Quds, the militant wing of the movement, Tayseer al-Jabari, whom Israel holds responsible for the recent attacks.
There were no reports of casualties from the Israeli side. But in Gaza, the Ministry of Health reported 10 dead, including a 5-year-old girl, and also indicated that 79 people were injured.
Source: AFP.