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| By Israel Insider staff September 23, 2007 |
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A suicide bombing planned for Tel Aviv on Saturday was averted as a result of the IDF's actions in the Nablus area over the past few days. Those actions include the uncovering of a weapons cache under the bed of a pregnant woman who claimed she could not move because she was sick. As a result of intelligence obtained, the would-be suicide bomber was apprehended and a bomb belt was discovered in South Tel Aviv.
The success of the IDF action embarrassed West Bank chieftain Mahmoud Abbas who, at a press conference with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, "asserted ... the utmost importance for stopping the ... invasions and arrests, the last of which was the invasion of the city of Nablus and its refugee camps."
The focus of the actions was the Ein Beit Ilmeh refugee camp. The weapons caches uncovered in civilian homes, according to the IDF, contained hand grenades, assault rifles, means for making explosives, mechanisms used for explosives, army equipment and additional ammunition. IDF sappers detonated the weaponry and explosives material in a controlled fashion.
The IDF said the purpose of the operation was to prevent the execution of terror attacks into the Israeli homefront. The operation began following the receipt of information about the intention of Palestinian terrorist organizations to execute murderous attacks. Nablus is the terror capital of the West Bank. In 2007, 10 bomb making laboratories were found in the area. In 2006, 117 of the 187 potential suicide bombers arrested in Judea and Samaria were from the Nablus area.
Earlier in the operation an IDF soldier, Staff Sergeant Ben-Zion Haneman, was killed, and another soldier was lightly injured. In several incidents, Palestinians opened fire and detonated explosives against IDF soldiers. IDF forces killed two Palestinian gunmen, among them the gunman responsible for the killing of Staff Sergeant Haneman.
The IDF reported 49 wanted Palestinians -- among them Hamas and PFLP militants -- were arrested during the operation and taken for questioning by security forces. Among the militants arrested was Nihad Rashid Hasan Shakirat, a senior wanted militant, head of the Hamas terror organization in the refugee camp. Shakirat, 34, was hiding inside a civilian home at the time of his arrest until the residents of the house, concerned by his presence, forced Shakirat to exit the building.
Shakirat, 23, revealed during questioning that he had given an explosive suicide belt to Mahed Ashur, a resident of Nablus who worked in Tel Aviv. Yesterday, IDF forces arrested Ashur, who directed the forces to a weapons cache, which contained bomb making materials. During his questioning Ashur admitted to receiving a suicide belt from Shakirat which he transferred to Tel Aviv in order to execute a suicide bombing against Israeli civilians. The belt was later found by Border Police sappers in a civilian home in southern Tel Aviv and detonated in a controlled fashion.
The Forces also arrested the senior wanted Palestinian militant Ahmed Yusuf Iah Aa-Az, 36, another senior Hamas terrorist in Ein Beit Ilmeh.
The IDF arrested a Hamas terror operative dressed as a woman to disguise himself during the search.
IDF forces also arrested Haled Nuri, Yusuf Nadi and Mustafa Nuri, members of the Hamas terror organization who admitted during their investigation that they intended to execute terrorist attacks. Mustafa Nuri also admitted his intention to commit a suicide bombing. Their terrorist cell acquired weaponry for the execution of the attacks from the leaders of the Hamas infrastructure in the Nablus region. Hamis Valid Hamis Mari, 28, a senior PFLP operative was also arrested.
IDF told to release terrorist who violated "amnesty"
According to Israel National News, two other terrorists from the Fatah group were arrested: Ibrahim and Jamal Ismail. But the arrest of the two reportedly drew criticism from high echelons of the Fatah leadership, who conveyed their displeasure to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his negotiating team. The terrorists had been included in an amnesty deal reached by Olmert with Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas, but violated the terms by taking part in the fighting in Shechem. The two were ordered released.
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