 Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin revealed yesterday that the security forces had recently captured a Fatah cell that was planning a two-tier attack on Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood, using mortar shells and light weapons' fire.
Appearing before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Diskin said the cell was uncovered in Bethlehem at the beginning of this month, in a joint operation of the Shin Bet and Israel Defense Forces' undercover units. The cell's five local operatives from the Popular Resistance Committees were arrested, but their leader, Jaber Ahras, a member of the Palestinian National Security Service, is still at large.
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The cell was caught with an IDF-issue 60-millimeter mortar launcher, eight shells ready for launching and a machine gun. According to the Shin Bet, the cell's capture foiled plans to attack Gilo a day or two later. The cell had already carried out shooting attacks in the area, without causing casualties.
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The leader, Ahras, is a Gaza Strip resident who has lived in Bethlehem for the past few years and operates out of the Palestinian government building there. The Shin Bet holds him responsible for the murder of two IDF soldiers in a shooting attack on the Tunnels Road in 2003. |