Top Hamas fugitive nabbed
Elite Border Guard unit, assisted by IDF and Shin Bet, capture Hamas military commander in West Bank; Ibrahim Hamed responsible for string of suicide bombing attacks; Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter says Hamed is 'arch terrorist'
(VIDEO) In a joint operation overnight Tuesday, an elite Border Guard unit assisted by the Shin Bet and the IDF, nabbed a Hamas top fugitive and military commander in the West Bank.
Security officials say Ibrahim Hamed, wanted by Israel since 1998, is responsible for the killings of dozens of Israelis and foreign nationals in suicide attacks in Israel.
Among major attacks masterminded by Hamed are the suicide bombing attacks at Hilel cafe in Jerusalem and at the Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus in Jerusalem.
Hamed, 41, surrendered to troops as bulldozers moved in to demolish a structure in central Ramallah where he was hiding.
On December 1, 2001, Hamed dispatched two suicide bombers who blew up in Zion Square in Jerusalem killing 11 people and injuring dozens.
On March 9, 2002, a Hamas suicide bomber dispatched by Hamed blew himself up at Moment Café in Jerusalem killing 12 people. Six people were killed in a suicide attack planned by Hamed at the Sheffield Club in Rishon Letzion on March 7 that same year.
A bomb planted in a cafeteria at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem killed nine students on July 31, 2002. On November 9, 2003, Hamed ordered two timed suicide bombing attacks at a major Jerusalem junction and at Café Hilel in the capital. Seventeen people were killed on that day.
Hamed is believed to have planned a number of attacks at strategic sites and buildings in Israel, none of which was ever carried out.
Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter praised the Shin Bet, the IDF and the Border Guard for "arresting the arch-terrorist, who has been labeled the 'Mohammad Deif' of the territories."
Dichter said 96 civilians were killed in terror attacks planned by Hamed.
