| |
Terror cell operated from PA buildings
Bethlehem terror cell that planned Jerusalem attacks hid out in Palestinian Authority government buildings to evade arrest, new evidence reveals; cell busted by IDF, Shin Bet days before planned attacks
Efrat Weiss
The Qassam cell nabbed this week by the IDF in Bethlehem, which planned attacks on Jerusalem neighborhoods, was partially operating out of Palestinian Authority government buildings.
The story was cleared for publication Monday afternoon.
Earlier, Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin revealed to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that IDF and Shin Bet forces arrested a group of Palestinians in possession of a cache of Qassams, mortar shells, and rocket launchers, which they intended to fire at the Har Homa and Gilo neighborhoods in the capital.
The Qassam cell, according to new evidence, was hiding out in government buildings in Bethlehem, to evade possible arrest; the head of the cell was operating from within the Mukata government compound in Ramallah.
The five cell members were arrested on Friday, February 3, just days before they intended to perpetrate attacks on Har Homa and Gilo in the capital. Under interrogation, cell members revealed plans to attack Jerusalem residential areas and military bases near Bethlehem with mortar shells and firearms. The cell was caught in possession of eight IDF-issue mortar shells, a tripod, grenade launcher, vests and helmets.
Confiscated mortar shells (Photo: Shin Bet)
The cell, affiliated with the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and directed by the Popular Resistance Committees in the Gaza Strip, was responsible for shooting attacks in southern Jerusalem neighborhoods.
Head of the cell Jabar Akhras was behind the murder of two Israeli soldiers in November 2003 at a Bethlehem checkpoint. Akhras, a Gaza native who relocated to Bethlehem, was employed by the Palestinian National Security Services. From inside the Mukata compound, Akhras had long commanded legions of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades operating around Bethlehem. Israel had filed numerous requests with the Palestinian Authority that Akhras be arrested, but Palestinian security chiefs claimed that the fugitive was already behind bars.
During interrogations, it was discovered that Popular Resistance Committee operatives, based in Gaza were directing and funding the cell's terror operations, with the aim of transferring the base of terrorist infrastructure from Gaza to the West Bank following Israel's withdrawal from the strip.
|
RSS
