Israel indicts militant whose arrest fueled Gaza tensions

By EMILY ROSE
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says it has filed terror charges against a senior member of the Islamic Jihad militant group. The militant leader’s arrest in the occupied West Bank helped spark three days of heavy fighting in Gaza earlier this month. Islamic Jihad had demanded that Israel release the militant and another detained Palestinian who is on a prolonged hunger strike as part of the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire that ended the fighting. The indictment signals that those demands will not be met. Islamic Jihad is an Iran-sponsored Palestinian militant group that is opposed to Israel’s existence and has carried out scores of deadly attacks over the years targeting Israeli civilians.