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bobdina
09-15-2009, 01:55 PM
Two top Hamas terror leaders and five militant Fatah activists arrested in the past two months

On Monday night (Sept. 14), the Hamas terror operative Mohammed Mastafa Mahmoud Harouish and his assistant Tisir Kamal Samara were arrested in Tul Karem in the Northern Judea and Samaria during a joint operation of the IDF, the ISA and a special police force.

Mohammed Mastafa Mahmoud Harouish, 26, is the head of the Hamas military branch in Tul-Karem. He was involved in the activities of a Hamas terror cell that was at the foundation of the Passover Massacre in Netanya, a suicide attack during which 30 Israeli civilians were killed and 140 injured.

In 2003 it became know that Harouish had been actively involved in Hamas activities in the Judea and Samaria region. In March 2004, he was wounded during an IDF operation, following which Hamas operatives evacuated him for medical treatment in Ramallah, where he continued his involvement in terror activities. During this time he was part of the planning of a thwarted suicide attack in Israel. Harouish was then arrested by the Palestinian security forces and transferred to the Palestinian Authority's prison in Jericho.

After his release from prison in 2006, Harouish returned to Tul Karem, where he became one of the commanders of Hamas military branch in the city, and chief assistant to Omar Gabber, the head of Hamas infrastructure. His activities included the recruitment of terror operatives, the formation of terror cells, and the purchase of weaponry.

The terror cells he organized were to commit terror attacks against IDF forces as well as against the Palestinian security forces. This plan was thwarted as a result a number of arrests throughout the Hamas infrastructure, starting in May 2007 and culminating with the arrest Omar Gabber in March 2008. After the Gabber’s arrest, Harouish has remained the top wanted official in the area.

As stated, Harouish was arrested together with his assistant, Adnan Tisir Kamal Samara, a Hamas militant, who was released only in 2008 after a prison term he served in Israel for his involvement in the forming of Harouish's terror cells.

In addition to that, five terror operatives, belonging to Tanzim, the militant wing of Fatah, were arrested in a joint IDF and ISA operation throughout the months of July and August. The terror operatives were connected to the local militant Fatah bloc and are responsible for carrying out a number of terrorists attacks in the area of and on Road 60, a central passageway for Israeli vehicles.

Maharan Iad, Tzalch Chamed, Mustafa Chamed, Jamil Chamed and Rami Chamed from Silwad were arrested during the investigations after a number of gunshots were fired at an Israeli vehicle traveling near their town. The investigation showed the direct involvement of the terror operatives in several terror attacks during and since the Second Intifada.

The ISA and IDF view arrests of this kind as part of their activity to thwart and stop terror in the area. These attacks were carried out by local residents, members of the Tanzim terrorist bloc; some of them are also members of the Palestinian Authority security apparatus.


http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/the_Front/09/09/1501.htm