Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Israeli Authorities Disrupt More West Bank Terror Cells


Steven Emerson, Executive Director
March 15, 2017

Israeli Authorities Disrupt More West Bank Terror Cells

by IPT News  •  Mar 15, 2017 at 4:00 pm
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Israeli security authorities arrested members of two different Palestinian terrorist cells in January, Israel's domestic intelligence agency announced on Wednesday.
Two of the suspects belonged to the al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade, the military wing of President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party. They are suspected of participating in several terrorist attacks, including pipe bomb and Molotov cocktail attacks.
One pipe bomb attack injured an IDF soldier in October. By arresting the cell members, Israeli authorities say they also foiled future plans to shoot Israeli security personnel.
Furthermore, Israeli authorities disrupted another cell in January and arrested two Hamas-affiliated operatives terrorists from al-Aroub refugee camp. Cell leader Ahmed al-Rahman was responsible for acquiring weapons to carry out terrorist attacks against "Israeli security forces and civilians." Al-Rahman also recruited Mahand Jabber Muhammed abu Sal to join the cell.
"The exposure of the cells and the operations they were planning shows the high level of motivation of terror operatives to carry out serious terrorist attacks and bears witness to the high threat level they pose," a Shin Bet statement said.
Shin Bet transferred its findings to Israeli military prosecutors for upcoming indictments
These developments come after Israeli authorities foiled two other West Bank-based Hamas cells earlier this week. Similar to the cells busted in January, the operatives were responsible for coordinating terrorist attacks and planning shooting attacks against Israeli troops and civilians.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian carried out a car ramming attack on Wednesday, trying to drive over Israeli civilians and soldiers standing at the Gush Etzion Junction bus stop. The deadly attack was prevented after the terrorist was shot and wounded.
While most foiled cells in the West Bank are affiliated with Hamas, the recent arrests of Fatah terrorists reaffirms that Israel faces multi-faceted terrorist threats. Fatah is often referred to as the "moderate" Palestinian faction, but operatives with allegiance to Fatah's political party continue to plan and execute terrorist attacks targeting Israelis. Wednesday's attempted vehicular attack also shows that individual terrorist initiatives remain a major problem for Israeli authorities, augmenting the terrorist threat from coordinated cells representing factions from across the Palestinian political spectrum.
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