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23.12.03, 21:57
Shin Bet captures lethal Hamas terror cell in Ramallah
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH
The General Security Service (Shin Bet) and the IDF have cracked a large,
Damascus-funded Hamas terrorist infrastructure in the Ramallah area,
security officials reported Tuesday.
Comprised of 22 terrorists, the infrastructure was collectively responsible
for the deaths of ten Israelis and the wounding of a dozen more, and were in
the planning stages of a particularly vicious attack on IDF troops in the
area.
According to officials, the plan was to crash a truck into an IDF jeep from
one side; and then open fire on the soldiers from another car. Once the IDF
troops had been killed, the cell members would snatch the soldiers' bodies,
decapitate them, stuff them into the getaway car, and use them as bargaining
chips in future negotiations for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
According to security officials, the Hamas cell had purchased the required
tools needed for decapitation.
The infrastructure was divided into three separate cells from the Ramallah
area villages of Kober Silwaj and Mizra Shalkiya. One team was made up of
the 'operators' to carry out attacks, another 'lookout' unit deployed to
alert the perpetrators incase IDF forces arrived, and a third getaway team
with two vehicles at their disposal.
During the weekend security forces arrested the 22 cell members in the
Ramallah and Binyamin districts. Forces uncovered vast amounts of weapons,
including those stolen by the cell members after ambushing an IDF patrol Ein
Yabrud village, east of Ramallah and south of Ofra in October 19, in which
three soldiers were killed.
Deputy commander of the Duhifat Batallion Raz told reporters that soldiers
who lost three of their comrades in the terrorist ambush in Ein Yabroud two
months ago participated in the large-scale operation to nab the Hamas
terrorists. "The operation came after long and intense efforts made by the
Shin Bet to compile intelligence and then several additional days to verify
the information before the operation was launched," he said.
The operation began on Friday and continued into the early morning hours of
Monday, he said, with the arrest of the key members of the infrastructure
taking place on Friday. On Monday morning security forces uncovered the
weapons hidden by the cells, including those snatched from the soldiers
killed in Ein Yabroud.
"We have closed the circle, we were the ones who arrested the terrorists,
captured the weapons including those that belonged to our friends and the
suspects who killed them," he told reporters.
The Shin Bet believes the group's senior commander is the head of the Hamas
military wing in the Ramallah area, Sheikh Ibrahim Hamed, a wanted suspect.
After perpetrating the attack in Ein Yabrud - in which three gunmen crept up
behind the soldiers, opened fire on the troops at close range, verified
their kill by shooting each soldier in the head, and stole the soldiers'
weapons - the gunmen gave the weapons to the getaway team so that the rest
of the team members could split up and would not be caught with weapons. On
Tuesday, a senior security official said that Israeli forces had taken back
the guns stolen from the Ein Yabrud soldiers.
The senior security official added that the capture of the cell members was
the result of intensive investigation that were carried out over many
months.
The same official said he was unaware of the fact that Hamas recently stated
it would stop attacks inside "Green Line" Israel.
The official said the infrastructure operated as a full-fledged military
unit. The cells transferred weapons to and from different areas in the West
Bank to be used in attacks, hiding the arms in a garbage truck.
The senior security official said that the infrastructure was funded by
Hamas headquarters in Damascus, and had received at least $80,000 from their
home base in Syria.
the official also noted that according to initial findings the Palestinian
Authority was not aware of Hamas activities, as they "have a problem in
compiling intelligence."
