The head of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group in Bethlehem was arrested Monday evening.
Muhammad Isa Halil Abeda was apprehended in a joint IDF, Yamam Elite Border Police and Shabak (General Security Service) operation in the PA-assigned city, just south of Jerusalem.
Abeda oversaw and commanded several Islamic Jihad terror cells and was involved in the planning and funding of attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.
The security forces arrested Abeda after a standoff that lasted several hours. Troops surrounding his home came under repeated attack from local mobs.
“After a violent riot erupted, IDF forces responded using means of riot dispersal at dozens of Palestinians that hurled Molotov cocktails, building blocks and rocks at the forces,” the IDF Spokesman reported. “After a number of rioters opened fire at the soldiers, the forces returned fire at their lower bodies.”
One teenage attacker, who threw a firebomb at soldiers, was killed when they returned fire.