JERUSALEM: Israel’s army said on Monday it had arrested a senior Islamic Jihad member as tensions with the group rose after the army blew up one of its tunnels from Gaza, killing several militants.

The army arrested the “senior operative” overnight in Arraba near Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank, Israel’s military said.

A source with Islamic Jihad confirmed that one of its leaders, Tareq Qadaan, was detained as part of an “arrest campaign”. There were no immediate details on whether others were arrested.

Later on Monday, Israeli media said the army had raised its level of alert adjacent to the border with Gaza as a precaution against possible Islamic Jihad retaliation for the tunnel blast.

One army spokeswoman said that an Iron Dome anti-missile battery has been deployed in central Israel, while another said that otherwise there was “nothing new.” Tensions have risen between Israel and Islamic Jihad after the army blew up a tunnel that stretched from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory on Oct 30.

Such tunnels have been used in the past to carry out attacks.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2017