| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| IDF, GSS Crack Extensive Islamic Jihad Network |
| 2006-12-14 |
| by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz Released for publication: Israeli security services have cracked, over recent months, an extensive network of Islamic Jihad terrorists in the Hevron Hills. Dozens have been arrested. The network consisted of several cells operating from within various Arab villages in the area of Dura in the southern Hevron Hills. Thus far, about 50 members of the Dura-area Islamic Jihad network have been arrested in joint IDF-General Security Services (GSS) operations. Seven of those arrested were intending to commit suicide bombings against Jewish targets inside Israel's pre-1967 borders. Among the terrorists recently arrested were senior Islamic Jihad leaders from Dura, Muhammad and Yusuf Fakeyeh. The two were students at An-Najah University in Shechem, from where they organized Islamic Jihad activities aimed at the establishment of an explosives factory in their hometown. The two were also responsible for organizing terrorist attacks, including the drafting of plans to infiltrate Jewish communities, execute suicide bombings and carry out kidnappings. During the counter-terrorist raids smashing the Islamic Jihad network, IDF forces discovered materials and components used in the making of explosives. Also confiscated were computer discs containing information about producing explosives and constructing explosive devices. And pr0n. Lot of pr0n. GSS sources said that the uncovering of the Islamic Jihad network, and the swift arrest of those involved in planning and organizing terrorist attacks, prevented the establishment of a dangerous terrorist infrastructure. Without intervention, they said, the network could have become operational and carried out serious attacks against Israelis. The sources noted that the very existence of the Dura network indicates the strong resilience of the Islamic Jihad, inasmuch as there have been several IDF operations that successfully broke up Islamic Jihad cells in the same region in recent years. Cells of the organization in the Hevron Hills have carried out many terrorist attacks against local Jewish targets, including fatal attacks against Israeli civilians. The current Islamic Jihad network in Dura was revealed during the interrogation of arrested terrorist Hani Rajoub in July. Rajoub, from Dura himself, was among those tasked with reorganizing and expanding an Islamic Jihad terror network in the Hevron Hills following a wave of arrests of the organization's local members in May and June of 2005. Along with co-conspirators, Rajoub recruited many terrorists from among local Arab civilians and assigned them the task of recruiting others in their hometowns. The network's leaders and initiates also began seeking out weapons and secluded areas for training, as well as starting experiments for the production of explosives. The leadership of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization is based in Damascus, Syria, from where it also receives funding. The group's principal financial support, however, is from Iran, and it has heavily allied itself with the Iranian-backed Hizbullah terrorist organization in Lebanon. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |