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| By Israel Insider staff December 28, 2007 |
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A joint IDF and ISA (Shin Bet) operation Thursday killed Muhammad Abdullah, a senior Islamic Jihad terrorist and Gaza's top rocketmaker. Eight other Jihad and Hamas terrorists were also killed.
Abdullah, 43, was a senior leader of the Islamic Jihad in central Gaza and was in charge of weapons manufacturing, including Kassam rockets and mortar shells being launched on a daily basis at IDF forces and at Israeli communities in the western Negev. Abdullah was involved in the planning and execution of terrorist attacks on the Israeli home front that were thwarted by IDF forces. Abdullah also planned attacks against IDF forces, including an attempted attack on the "Marmurek" position in September 2007.
Murshad was killed with two other operatives when he was struck by Israel Air Force missiles while walking in a refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
IDF troops forces also killed one of chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia's bodyguards on Friday during an arrest operation in Ramallah.
On Thursday, Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia announced that peace talks would continue after a disagreement over Israeli building in Jerusalem, apparently after Israel's agreement to postpone construction plans.
However, late Thursday, the IDF sent a unit into a suburb of Ramallah, the seat of Abbas' government, to arrest one of Qureia's bodyguards, a member of the Palestinian security forces who the military said was implicated in armed activity against Israel and had provided weapons to other militants.
"He opened fire at troops and they fired back, killing him," the IDF said.
Palestinian security officials denied that the bodyguard, 23-year-old Mu'tasem Sharif, fired at troops. Qureia, a former Palestinian prime minister, had no comment.
In another incident, an IAF aircraft fired at a car containing munitions in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, killing two Islamic Jihad operatives. A security source said they were on their way to a terror attack.
Friday morning, IAF missiles killed a Hamas terrorist and injured five people near Khan Yunis. Thursday afternoon, three Hamas men were killed near Khan Yunis by fire from an IAF helicopter and an IDF unit on the ground after the militants fired an antitank missile at an IDF bulldozer, Haaretz reported. Shortly before the incident, a video was broadcast that showed an antitank missile fired at an IDF helicopter gunship. Israeli military sources said the pilots had not noticed the missile, but the video footage would be scrutinized.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has recently expressed satisfaction with the security forces' operations against terror organizations in the Gaza Strip. The defense establishment believes that the military and economic pressure on Hamas could lead the organization to ask for a cease-fire and pledge to halt rocket fire by smaller factions.
In the West Bank, an undercover Border Police unit raided the home of Samer Saadi, a wanted senior member of Islamic Jihad, and arrested him. IDF forces arrested about 20 other fugitives Thursday yesterday in several West Bank cities. |
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