Israeli security services said that the attempted attack last
week on Wednesday April 26th 2006 at the Karni Crossing
between Gaza and Israel was carried out by the Popular
Resistance Committees in the Gaza Strip under the direction
of Hamas. The incident shows that Israel was justified in
closing the Karni Crossing repeatedly over the past
months.
A dispute between the terrorists accompanying the car and the
Palestinian security services uncovered the massive bomb of
more than 300 kilograms of explosives. By way of comparison,
the usual suicide bomber carries about three kilograms of
explosives, and the massive bombs that destroyed Israeli
tanks had about 60 kilograms of explosives. Analysts believe
that the plan was to blast a massive hole in a security wall,
and then the gunmen would burst through and kill
civilians.
Government officials noted that while Hamas was warning of a
humanitarian disaster inside the Gaza Strip, and while the
Palestinian Authority was lobbying the world to pressure
Israel to keep the Karni Crossing open to avoid this
disaster, Hamas was behind an attack aimed at blowing up the
crossing.
Due to numerous specific terror warnings, Karni has been
repeatedly opened and closed by Israel since the
disengagement from Gaza last year. The closures are often
depicted by the PA as collective punishment on the
Palestinian people, which relies on the goods transferred
through the crossing.
"Hamas spokespeople who have continuously complained to the
western media of a so-called Israeli policy to starve the
Palestinian people are now exposed as cynical hypocrites
whose real agenda is nihilism. They have no scruples about
bringing suffering on their own people to advance their own
extreme political agenda," one government official told
Ha'aretz.
According to the security services, on Wednesday April 26th a
Popular Resistance Committees cell in the Gaza Strip under
the direction of Mamtaz Dougmoush was on its way to carry out
a bombing attack at the Karni goods crossing. In the early
afternoon three vehicles arrived at the crossing: one of them
was filled with a large amount of explosives, while the other
two carried armed gunmen. The plan was apparently to approach
the crossing, detonate the explosives along the barrier
separating between the Israeli and Palestinian sides creating
an opening for the gunmen to cross over to the Israeli side
where they were to open fire at Israeli civilians and
security personnel operating the crossing. A similar attack
was carried out on January 13th 2005 at the crossing, killing
6 Israeli civilians.
Mamtaz Dougmoush and his men have been operating since
January 2005 — exactly when Hamas declared the
beginning of the so-called "period of calm" (tahdi'a)
— with the full authorization, funding and guidance of
the senior Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. Hamas thus
surreptitiously continued to actively promote terror
activity, while pretending to maintain a public
nonviolence.
Dougmoush routinely participated in meetings of senior Hamas
leaders, in which those Hamas leaders authorized Dougmoush's
planned terror activities. Hamas also supplies weaponry,
professional guidance and assistance in terror training for
Dougmoush's cell.
In addition to its activities against Israel, Dougmoush's
infrastructure also assists Hamas in its internal affairs,
mainly by attacking security and political officials in the
Palestinian Authority who are perceived as a threat to
Hamas.
The assassination of Mousah Arafat on September 7th 2005 is
an example such assistance: Arafat, the head of the
Palestinian National Security and the Palestinian Military
Intelligence in the Gaza Strip, and who served as a close
advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, was executed
by Popular Resistance Committees operatives. His son, a
Military Intelligence officer, was kidnapped in the same
incident. The operatives involved in the assassination
received military support from senior Hamas terrorists in the
Gaza Strip and, apparently, received from them the order for
the assassination itself.
The attempted bombing at Karni last week was the realization
of a long line of attempts to carry out an attack at the
crossing over the course of the past three months. During
this time, Hamas showed consistent involvement in the
preparations, supply of weaponry, guidance and training for
Dougmoush's cell.
Hamas leaders involved with Dougmoush's infrastructure
include: Ahmad A'ndour — head of Hamas in the northern
Gaza Strip. He authorizes terror activity of the Popular
Resistance Committees while coordinating Popular Resistance
Committees activity in general. A'ndour maintains constant
contact with Dougmoush and his men. Ahmad Jabri — a
senior Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip. He meets on a regular
basis with Dougmoush and his collaborators, and serves as
both a source of funding and as an authorizer of their terror
activity. Abed Al Massi Abu Dif — a senior Hamas
explosives instructor. Dif assisted in the preparing and
training of Dougmoush's operatives. Abu Dif was killed in
February of this year in a "work accident" when an explosive
device detonated accidentally during one of his training
sessions. Imad Akkel — a senior Hamas explosives
expert. He assists in training and weapons manufacturing for
the Popular Resistance Committees.
Despite the fact that the Karni goods crossing serves as the
main conduit of commodities and consumer goods for the
Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip — and perhaps
because of this fact — the Karni crossing has been a
common target for attacks by terror organizations over the
past several years.
Following intelligence information of planned attacks such as
the one that, bechasdei Hashem was foiled last
Wednesday, the Karni crossing has been intermittently closed
over the past few months.
Hamas has repeatedly declared its commitment to the well-
being of the Palestinian people and as of January 2006 has
become officially responsible for the Palestinian population.
It is in fact this very organization which stands behind a
longstanding plan to attack the largest goods crossing in
Gaza, and it is therefore directly and fully responsible for
the hardships stemming from the closing of the crossing.
