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| By Israel Insider staff March 14, 2008 |
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The unofficial "calm" or sort-of-ceasefire that prevailed for several days was shattered after a special unit of an Israeli police SWAT team eliminated a cell of Islamic Jihad leaders in Bethlehem. One of the terrorists killed was Muhammed Shehadeh, mastermind of numerous bombing attacks in Israel since the beginning of the second Intifada.
Israeli security forces killed four senior Islamic Jihad and Fatah fugitives in Bethlehem on Wednesday night including the movement's commander for the Bethlehem area, Mohammed Shehadeh, 45. Shehadeh was sought after by Israel for his involvement in terror attacks inside Israel.
There were initial claims that the four fugitives were linked to last week's terror attack at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem in which eight yeshiva students were murdered. But subsequent reports from Israeli officials dismissed those claims.
Special IDF forces and Border Police units entered the city to arrest the four fugitives and came under fire as they approached the Mukata -- the government compound building in the city. A firefight ensued. Beside Shehadeh, the other three terrorists killed were Ahmed Balbul, 45, Ahmed el Kamel, 35 and Issa Zohara, 36. Israeli security officials said the four were in direct contact with the Islamic Jihad leadership in Damascus.
Earlier in the day, security forces shot and killed senior Islamic Jihad commander Salah Karkur during a raid in the village of Saida near Tulkarm. The army said Karkur was planning a suicide bomb attack in Israel and opened fire at troops who surrounded his house. Soldiers, returning fire, killed Karkur. A bulldozer demolished half of Karkur's house in an attempt to encourage him to leave.
Following the two incidents, Palestinians in Gaza fired dozens of rockets on Sderot. No one was injured.
The exchange put an end to a rare period of calm, which lasted for several days. Israeli security officials said Friday that they did not expect the calm to return anytime soon, and there were reports Friday that Palestinians might resort to rocket fire on the Jerusalem suburb of Gilo in response to the elimination of the Jihad terror cell in nearby Bethlehem. |
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