The IDF wound up Operation Defensive Shield this week as
troops completed their withdrawal from Nablus and parts of
Ramallah. Twenty-nine soldiers and border policemen were
killed and 127 wounded in the offensive, launched on March
28, to crack down on terror, destroy terrorist
infrastructure, confiscate weapons, and arrest fugitives.
It came in response to the terrorist attacks that had claimed
scores of lives, over 100 in March alone, and following the
suicide bombing at Netanya's Park Hotel on Seder night
in which 29 were killed and scores wounded. The IDF entered
Nablus, Jenin, Ramallah, Tulkarm, Bethlehem, and Kalkilya.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least 216 Palestinians
were killed and 416 wounded, but said final figures are
expected to run much higher. As of press time, the IDF
remained in Bethlehem, with troops deployed around the
Nativity Church where Palestinian gunmen, including
fugitives, have been holed up since the beginning of the
operation.
In Ramallah, troops also continue to surround the Mukata
complex, where Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat
has been confined to his office for a number of weeks.
Otherwise the Israeli army has withdrawn from the city.
The PA has refused Israel's request that it hand over the
murderers of tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi and Fuad
Shubaki, who was in charge of financing the Karine A weapons
ship.
Troops have taken up new positions surrounding the
Palestinian cities and towns they entered and have imposed
tight blockades in an attempt to prevent terrorists from
leaving. Soldiers were also deployed along the Green Line to
prevent infiltrations into Israel.
Security officials estimate that despite the successes of the
operation, a renewal of terrorist attacks is forthcoming.
Other officers said that while there was a marked decrease in
terrorist attacks during the operation, the terrorist
infrastructure had not been obliterated and all of the
terrorist organizations are intent on resuming attacks. Hamas
leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin vowed to continue the struggle
until the end of the occupation.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told reporters Israel has
completed "this stage of Operation Defensive Shield," but the
broader battle is not yet over. "We have achieved profound
results but the struggle against terrorism will continue,
using different means," he said.
During the operation, Israel arrested 4,258 suspected
terrorists, 1,800 of whom remain in custody, 396 of them
considered fugitives. They also confiscated vast quantities
of weapons and explosives. Many of these appeared on lists
that Israel had given the PA months earlier.
PA negotiator Saeb Erekat said Israel's announcement that it
had concluded its operation in West Bank towns is nothing
more then a public relations stunt.
A Palestinian youth fled the church in Bethlehem and told
security officials there were 50 youths being held hostage by
the gunmen, who threatened to kill them if they attempted to
flee. According to IDF officers at least two of the boys
inside the church are 10 years old.
The army said PA officials inside the church have received
direct orders from Arafat to refuse any humanitarian
assistance offered by Israel.
Operation hits Terror Net Hard
The arrest of Halad Ibrahim Tafesh, the head of the military
wing of Hamas in Bethlehem, who was captured a few days ago
by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet, wound up a successful
week for the security and intelligence forces.
The heads of Hamas terrorist operations in Nablus (Husam
Badran), in Ramallah (Jamal Tawil) and Bethlehem were
arrested, as well as Marwan Barghouti, acting commander of
the Fatah's Tanzim military wing in the West Bank, and his
brother-in-law Ahmad, a Tanzim operations officer in
Ramallah. These wanted men preferred arrest to dying in
battle.
It was also a week when the number of Israelis injured or
killed in terror attacks was one of the lowest in months,
although there is not necessarily a direct connection between
the low casualty figure and the arrests.
Intelligence sources speak of having diminished terrorist
capabilities by some 90 percent in Jenin, by 80 percent in
Nablus and Ramallah, and by 60 percent in Tul Karm and
Qalqilyah. In Bethlehem, the effect of the military operation
will depend to a great extent on the outcome of the siege on
the Church there. In Hebron, damage to the terrorist
infrastructure was minimal and in the Gaza Strip it may not
have been harmed at all.
It appears that Hamas has been the organization hardest hit.
In addition to the Hamas leaders mentioned above as having
been captured, the head of the Hamas' military wing in Jenin,
Kayis Adwan, and the head of its military operations south of
Hebron, Akam al-Atrash, were killed in IDF operations.
As for Islamic Jihad, most of its operational infrastructure
in the northern Shomron region, based mostly out of the Jenin
refugee camp, was destroyed.
Three of the leaders of the network who dispatched a total of
some 20 suicide bombers to carry out attacks in Israel
(including two bus attacks in Wadi Ara) have been taken out
of action. In addition, three other middle-level activists
were killed and two others arrested. Dozens of field
operatives in the organization were arrested.
The Tanzim, in addition to the arrest of Marwan Barghouti and
his brother-in-law, has also been affected by the arrest of
the head of the Al-Aqsa Brigade in the Shomron area, and
Tanzim leaders in Jenin.
More than 100 major terror activists were killed or arrested
by Israel before the military operation. Of the 500
Palestinians on the "most wanted" list which Israel submitted
to the PA and the CIA last year, about half are no longer
active.
The salient character of Defensive Shield has been the army's
ability to arrest terror leaders instead of killing them in
targeted assassinations.
Shin Bet officials prefer the arrests because of the valuable
information that can be extracted from the captives under
interrogation.
Despite the high number of wanted terrorists captured, a
fairly large number have remained out of the Israeli dragnet,
particularly in Hebron, in Bethlehem and the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Strip continues to be a hotbed of terror activity.
"The Strip is still the center for most terror know-how,"
said one senior officer. "Everything is developed there and
later streams to the West Bank -- large explosives, mortars,
and Kassam rockets."
Because of the difficulty of penetrating into Israel from the
Gaza Strip, most of the terror activity from there is
concentrated on isolated Jewish settlements in the Strip.
Capture of Barghouti is Israeli Coup
Leader of the Fatah Party's Tanzim militia, Barghouti, 42,
had become a symbol and a coordinating force of the
Palestinian intifada against Israel.
With Palestinian groups already threatening retaliation,
however, other observers suggested that Israel's seizure of
Barghouti and a subsequent trial would only strengthen his
standing among Palestinians and bring more grief to
Israel.
Some senior Israeli security officials reportedly believe
that instead of being put on trial, Barghouti should be
expelled.
About one thing there was no debate: The capture of Barghouti
in his Ramallah apartment hideout was a coup for Israeli
intelligence and security forces.
For months, even as it targeted other Palestinians who were
organizing terrorist attacks, Israel declined to go after
Barghouti because of his tremendous popular support.
The Israeli army described Barghouti as head of the Tanzim
militia and founder of the Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade, a
terrorist group that has carried out some of the most brutal
attacks of recent months, killing scores of Israelis and
wounding hundreds.
The head of Israeli army intelligence, Maj.-Gen. Aharon
Ze'evi, said Barghouti was known to have directed, encouraged
and financed terrorist activities, including the dispatch of
suicide bombers.
Israeli security officials linked Barghouti to numerous
attacks in which more than a dozen Israelis were killed,
including a shooting attack at a Bat Mitzvah celebration in
Hadera, a shooting spree on Jerusalem's Jaffa Road and a
shooting at a Tel Aviv restaurant.
Israeli officials want to examine Barghouti's relationship
with Arafat to determine how much Arafat knew about Tanzim
terrorist attacks and how involved in them he was.
Documents confiscated during the anti-terror campaign show
that funds Barghouti received, including allocations
authorized by Arafat, were used to finance attacks by West
Bank terror cells, the army says.
Once considered a possible moderate successor to Arafat,
Barghouti's views became more extreme in the intifada.
In the early 1980s Barghouti was arrested for terrorist
activities and spent six years in Israeli jail, where he
learned Hebrew. He was released in 1987 and deported to
Jordan
