The Islamic Jihad said in a press statement that the Palestinian Preventive Service forces arrested its officials Khalid Jaradat and Tariq Qa’dan in Jenin. “The forces broke into the homes of Jaradat and Qa’dan arrested them, and evacuated them to unknown location for questioning.”
The movement said that the arrest of the two officials is due to Israel’s claims that its military wing, Al-Quds Brigades, is responsible for the attack in Jerusalem that left a British tourist dead and some forty injured.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad expressed support for the attack as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Prime Minister Salam Fayad condemned it.
Fayad said in a statement that he “strongly condemns the terror attack in Jerusalem regardless of the identity of the perpetrators.”
Referring to the possibility that Palestinians were behind the attack, Fayyad said it would it be despicable if any Palestinian party was involved, especially in light of the huge damage that such attacks have inflicted on the Palestinians in the past.”
The deposed Hamas government declared a state of emergency in the Gaza Strip in anticipation of a massive Israeli military response to the bombing and the recent spate of rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israeli communities.
The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot said that the Islamic Jihad in Gaza ordered all its commanders to go into hiding for the next few days at least, for fear that the Israeli army will aim to assassinate group leaders in response to the attack.
The Israeli Army Radio quoted top Israeli officials as saying that it was decided to offer a firm yet measured response to the recent “terror wave”, in the aims of avoiding escalation.
The report said that the Israeli national security council decided on moves that will aim to deter Palestinian military groups from firing rockets and mortars on southern Israeli communities. The Israeli operations will not necessarily be carried out immediately, but rather, when the army identifies operational opportunities to act, the report said.
On Tuesday, Israel killed eight Palestinians, half of them civilians, in two separate strikes in Gaza City.
