About 10 senior activists have been killed recently, say
Palestinian sources. Though Israel has not announced that it
has killed any terrorists, the IDF and the Shin Bet are said
to be visibly satisfied with the work done by its special
units, especially the special police unit, against
Palestinian field activists in the last few weeks. Some
arrests have been announced, most notably of several of
those involved in the lynch of two Israeli soldiers in
Ram'allah.
According to reports in the press, several on Israel's list
of wanted Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists have asked for
protection from the Palestinian Authority and some who were
released by the PA after the outbreak of the intifadah have
even been put in jail in protective custody. The PA released
even convicted terrorists as hostilities broke out starting
erev Rosh Hashanah.
Terrorists' fears grew especially after Anwar Ahmed Himran,
a known member of the Islamic Jihad aged 28, was killed in
Nablus a week ago. Palestinian eyewitnesses say he was shot
by Israeli sharpshooters. According to reports from the
Palestinian Authority, Himran played a major role in
preparing the Hadera bombing. Israel has not confirmed its
involvement.
Of the senior-level terrorists held in Palestinian jails
before the outbreak of the Intifadah in late September, only
Mahmoud Abu-Hanoud of Hamas is still in jail in Nablus. He
asked to go to jail after narrowly escaping a bungled
capture attempt by Israeli troops. Israel has confirmed that
Hamas terrorist Mohammed Deff fled jail in Gaza a few weeks
ago and has not returned.
Yesterday Abel Mouati Sabawi, the deputy commander of the
Palestinian police in the Gaza Strip, was killed on Monday
while tending to an undetonated Israeli shell left in
Palestinian territory. Israeli military sources say that
neither the IDF nor the Shin Bet had anything to do with the
incident. This is a sweeping denial, unlike the refusal to
comment in some of the previous deaths of senior-level
Palestinians.
It is clear that some of the cases Palestinians described as
"assassinations" were really "work accidents" of terrorists
killed while preparing bombs. However even in those cases
Israel does not hurry to deny its involvement because of the
effect the deaths have on the Palestinian organizations.
The IDF says the activities focus on known high-ranking
terrorists about whom there is solid information concerning
their involvement in terror attacks and the planning of
attacks in the near future. The security coordination with
the Palestinian security forces is nonexistent.
The security establishment has numerous warnings of plans by
the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad to carry out terror attacks
this Friday in Israel and beyond the Green Line, declared
"Jerusalem Day" by Iran.
