In a combined operation, the Israel Security Agency, the IDF
and an elite unit of Border Police force arrested the head of
Hamas's armed branch in the West Bank overnight Monday. His
capture was described by the IDF as a "great military
feat."
"What made him special was his creativity in finding very
complex ways to attack Israelis," the IDF colonel who led the
operation told Army Radio. The IDF colonel said Hamas would
have trouble replacing him.
Ibrahim Hamed, 41, has been sought by Israel since 1998 and
is allegedly responsible for killing at least 78 Israelis and
wounding hundreds more in several terror attacks, including
bombings at the Moment Cafe in Jerusalem, the Hebrew
University cafeteria, the Hillel Cafe in Jerusalem's German
Colony and Zion Square.
Hamed surrendered to troops after they ringed his Ramallah
hideout and threatened to demolish it with a bulldozer with
him inside. He emerged from the building and troops told him
over a loudspeaker to take off his outer clothing to ensure
that he was not carrying a bomb. Hamed complied, was cuffed
and taken away. Ha'aretz reported that the two
apartments on the second floor of the building were sparsely
furnished with bamboo chairs and mattresses.
In addition to Hamed, eleven other Palestinian fugitives were
apprehended throughout the West Bank early Tuesday morning as
the IDF sought to apprehend Hamed's entire network of
criminal terrorists.
Among the attacks Hamed is believed to have helped plan and
direct were:
* A car bombing in Zion Square in the heart of Jerusalem five
years ago which killed 11 people;
* A suicide bombing at the Moment coffee house adjacent to
the Prime Minister's official residence in the city, in which
12 people were killed;
* A double suicide bombing in September, 2003, which killed a
total of 17 people at the Hillel cafe in Jerusalem's German
colony, and adjacent to the Tsrifin IDF base near Tel
Aviv.
Throughout his years in hiding, Hamed maintained strict
secrecy, and was in contact with only a few of the members of
his network. He used to attack relatively infrequently and
then disappear, to make it more difficult to track him
down.
In a complex operation in Ramallah two years ago, Israel
security forces came close to capturing Hamed, killing two of
his senior aides. However he escaped at the last minute. It
is believed that he was not involved in any recent terror
attacks, following a decision by Hamas in January, 2005 not
to be publicly involved in terror operations.
Hamed grew up in the West Bank village of Silwad, and belongs
to the same clan as Khaled Mashaal, the Hamas leader based in
Damascus.
