The Israeli army has announced a series of precautionary measures on the borders of the Gaza Strip following the arrest yesterday in the Jenin camp of high-ranking Islamic Jihad leader Bassam al-Saadi in a shootout that led to the killing of another Palestinian last night.

This morning, the Israeli army blocked the main directions and roads in the south, fearing that Hamas would react to the operation and launch rockets at the cities located along the border with Gaza. A security official said: “Precautionary measures in the strip have been taken to prevent Islamic Jihad from dragging the region into an escalation.”

Security authorities have ordered Zikim Beach closed to visitors, train traffic between Ashkelon and Sderot has been suspended, and the Erez crossing has been closed to workers.

Following the overnight arrest operation, Islamic Jihad issued a statement declaring its intention to respond to the Israeli army’s operation in Jenin, and the Al-Quds Brigades issued a general alert.

A statement released by the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, said: “We at the Al-Quds Brigades are alerting and raising the readiness of our mujahideen and operational combat units in response to the call of duty to treacherous aggression, which the great leader Sheikh Bassam al-Saadi and his family were recently subjected to in Jenin.”

Israeli security forces arrested high-ranking leader of the Islamic Jihad movement Bassam al-Saadi last night in the Jenin camp, and the operation was carried out by members of the Border Guard Intelligence Unit and Golani Brigade fighters, and the Ynet website confirmed that there were no losses among Israeli soldiers.