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| Israel-Palestine |
| IDF kills 5 Tanzim members; Gaza Hizbullah cell arrested |
| 2004-03-10 |
| Several interesting bits in this JPost article. Five armed Tanzim fugitives were killed in a gun battle with undercover border police in Jenin on Wednesday afternoon. The Paleo terrorist body count seems to have risen sharply recently. Me suspects the Israelis have a new intelligence source. Meanwhile, Jerusalem police were back on a heightened state of red alert Wednesday night, following a growing number of intelligence alerts of impending attacks. The alert level had been lowered Saturday, after a suicide bombing planned for the capital was thwarted. Ever notice how thwarted suicide attacks are never news. There are more than 50 separate alerts in force over impending terrorist attacks nationwide, security officials said this week. The Jenin raid by undercover border police was to arrest fugitives. In the morning, security forces searched a number of houses and surrounded several buildings. In the afternoon, the vehicle in which the five fugitives were riding was stopped for inspection. The fugitives opened fire at the troops who shot and killed them. The five were identified as Iman Sabahna, Amer Sakel Katsrawi, Muhammad Khairala, Ihab Abu Jafer, and Bassem al-Mahdi. Officials said they had been involved in numerous shooting attacks against civilians and soldiers. The car they used had been stolen in Afula, officials said. Members of a Palestinian terror cell in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip who received funds, instructions, and training from Hizbullah operatives in Lebanon were recently arrested, the Shin Bet revealed on Wednesday. A drone rigged with explosives that was to be blown up in one of the communities in the Gaza Strip was only one of a series of attacks planned by the cell, which received thousands of dollars to fund its terrorist operations. According to security officials, the cell had been operating for four years. Officials noted that it was not the first time Hizbullah was involved in assisting terrorist groups in the territories and it has also recruited Israeli Arabs. The founder of the group, Shadi Abu al-Hatsin, 23, was arrested in December. He was born in Yemen and 10 years ago moved with his mother and brothers to the Gaza Strip. As I have long suspected Arabs are moving into Gaza and WB because life is better there than other places in the Arab world. All those free UN and Euro goodies. Hatsin told investigators that from an early age he was taught about weapons by his father, a member of the Lebanese fedayeen. In the Gaza Strip, he learned to make bombs, manufacture rockets, and fire weapons by studying Web sites and from members of the Palestinian Authority security services. No suprises here. At the technological college in Khan Yunis, he studied biochemistry, physics, and mechanics, all of which helped him in weapons making. Influenced by programs broadcast on the Hizbullah satellite station, he decided to sign up and in 2000 made contacts with the movement via his uncle Hassan Dukmak, a Hizbullah member who lives in Lebanon. At first, he received large sums of Hizbullah money sent by his uncle to fund the cell’s activities. Later he received the names of other Hizbullah operatives whom he contacted via e-mail. Hatsin told investigators cell members had been involved in a number of shooting and rocket attacks. He also revealed meeting with Wassim Masrouja, 23, a Hizbullah agent who was sent to the Gaza Strip to assist in training cell members. He was arrested by security forces in November as he attempted to return to Lebanon. He also tried twice last year to send members abroad to Lebanon to undergo military training in Hizbullah camps. Cell members Bassam Abu Nemer, 38, and Ismail Grabli, 30, were arrested as they returned to the Gaza Strip from Egypt last year. Grabli admitted he met with a Hizbullah agent in Egypt in July, was given $700, and was instructed to travel to Turkey to meet with other Hizbullah officials, and then to undergo training in Lebanon. He was arrested last August and told investigators the planned trip had fallen through. These boys get around. Security officials said it was not the first time terrorists had planned to pack a drone with explosives. In November, Hamas planned to do so, but six of its members were killed and two wounded when their experiment blew up. I always like to be reminded of good news from the past. |
| Posted by:Phil B |
| #2 "Shadi Abu al-Hatsin. . . was born in Yemen and 10 years ago moved with his mother and brothers to the Gaza Strip. " *splutter* but,but,but...they told me the Gaza Strip is a ghetto for the Palestinians who were dispossessed by the Eeeevil Jooooos !!! |
| Posted by: Carl in NH 2004-3-10 9:37:46 PM |
| #1 WTG IDF! Plug another one for me. |
| Posted by: Craig 2004-3-10 9:22:28 PM |