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Jihad Shahada, 18, captured by security forces. (IDF)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners July 23, 2005 |
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A Palestinian suicide bomber was intercepted by security forces near Kibbutz Nir-Am in the western Negev on Friday night wearing an explosives belt. The IDF, Shin Bet and Israel Police captured Jihad Shahada, 18, a resident of the Jabaliyah refugee camp in northern Gaza shortly after he had infiltrated into Israel. The five kilograms of explosives on the belt he wore were later detonated by army sappers.
On Saturday, the Israeli police arrested Shahada's 25-year-old accomplice, an Arab citizen of Israel, who had crossed into the country with him and managed to reach a relative's home in Yafo (Jaffa). They were members of the Al-Aksa Martyr's Brigade, sent by Salem Thabet to blow up in a crowded area in Tel Aviv on Friday night.
It was the first time this year that a terrorist has succeeded in infiltrating Israel from the Gaza Strip, security officials reported. Since the beginning of 2005, security forces have prevented more than 90 attempts by terrorists to enter Israel and perpetrate attacks.
A high state of alert was declared in kibbutzim and villages in the western Negev, following signs that the electronic fence on the Gaza border was breached. Large police and army forces were mobilized around Gaza, between Sderot and Ashdod. Police units were stationed on central arteries in the area, blocking entrances to towns and cities.
It is the second time a suicide bomber from the Jabalya camp has been caught enroute to an attack. On June 20, Wafa Samir Ibrahim Bas, 21, was caught at the Erez crossing terminal wearing explosives stitched to her underwear. She had planned to blow up at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, where she went to get medical treatment for burns incurred in an accident in her home.
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