Warding off 'concrete threat,' IAF increases drone activity in Gaza
As security tensions along the Gaza border continue, the Israel Air Force upgraded deployment in the area Thursday to identify terror squads looking to fire rockets into Israel.
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The IDF also closed entry to workers from Gaza, hoping to increase pressure on Hamas, which will in turn pressure Palestinian Islamic Jihadists into stopping their operations.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi is expected to meet with the Gaza Division on Thursday to approve offensive plans in the strip.
Roads around Gaza remained closed for the third consecutive day amid fears of reprisal attacks following the arrest of a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad figure in Jenin on Monday.
On Wednesday, senior PIJ official Khaled al-Batsh said the terror group would bomb Israel in retaliation retaliation for the arrest of its West Bank commander, Bassam al-Saadi.
"We have every right to bomb Israel with our most advanced weapons, and make the occupier pay a heavy price. We will not settle for attacking around Gaza, but we will bomb the center of the so-called State of Israel," Batsh told The Media Line.
"The Palestinian Islamic Jihad can't sit silent and watch the Israeli crimes and the spilling of Palestinian blood in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip," he said.
Commenting on Hamas reportedly opposing the possible attack against Israel, Batsh said that "no one attempts to stop us from using our right to stop the Israeli crimes."
He added, "Our goal is to make the occupation pay for its crimes, and to prove that the Islamic Jihad will keep to its commitment to protect the Palestinian people and the resistance anywhere."
While the IDF was blocking roads around Gaza, the PIJ declared a state of "high alert among our fighters and combat units" and said it was "prepared to respond with force."
An IDF official quoted by The Media Line said that "the Israeli military is prepared for all scenarios, including an escalation, and is reassessing the situation regularly."
Meanwhile, mediation efforts led by Egypt and Qatar to prevent such an escalation continued.
According to Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds, the PIJ presented the mediators with several demands, including Israel ending military operations in the West Bank.
The group also demanded Saadi's family be allowed to visit to check on his condition and that Israel release Khalil Awawda, a Palestinian administrative detainee currently on hunger strike.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
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