Israeli army units arrested 12 members of radical Islamic Jihad

Israeli army units arrested 12 members of the radical Islamic Jihad group early Friday in Israel’s ongoing crackdown on Palestinians in the wake of Wednesday’s suicide bombing attack in Hadera.

An Israeli army spokesman in Tel Aviv said that the 12 were seized in the towns of Tulkarem and Jenin in the northern West Bank.

In addition, a further four Palestinians who were being sought by the authorities were also arrested, the spokesman said.

Earlier, Israeli F16 warplanes Apache helicopters had fired missiles at empty, unpopulated areas in the northern and eastern Gaza Strip after midnight Thursday, destroying roads that links Gaza Strip with the borderlines with Israel.

That attack came amid an escalation of violence in which seven Palestinians were killed and several others were wounded when an Israeli Air Force helicopter fired a rocket at a car travelling in the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

In the road attacks, the F16s fired about five heavy missiles and destroyed several roads and bridges in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said.

The missiles blasted deep holes in the roads, making them impassable for militants who are believed by the Israeli army to use them for transport of homemade rockets and launch them at southern Israel from northern Gaza.

The F16 warplanes also buzzed the Gaza Strip, breaking the sound barrier and terrifying residents, especially children. Many windows were smashed, reports Khaleej Times. I.L.