IDF and undercover forces arrested a senior Hamas terrorist commander in a Ramallah-area village Saturday. Friday, two Fatah terrorists were caught.
Salah Mahmoud Suliman El-Arouri, 41, was arrested in Aroura, north of Ramallah. An IDF statement said he is considered the founder of Hamas’s Izz a-Din al-Kassam Brigades and is one of Hamas’s senior commanders in Judea and Samaria.
El-Arouri was imprisoned in Israel from 1992-97. He was arrested again in 1998 and released in March, 2007.
Friday night, two Fatah terror commanders and a PFLP terrorist were arrested after trying to escape a building in which they had barricaded themselves. The terrorists oversaw attacks in the Shechem region. One Tanzim terrorist, Yussuf Abu Leila, had received explosives training from Hizbullah in Lebanon and was producing bomb-belts in Shechem. The others were Muweib Huteiri (Fatah-Tanzim) and Yusuf Mabruk (PFLP).
Five others fled the scene in a car. IDF forces opened fire, wounding at least one, but failing to prevent the escape.
Near Hevron, an Arab man was shot trying to enter a military post when he did not respond to IDF soldiers' calls to stop. He was wearing military boots and pants, though was found to be unarmed. He was treated at the scene but died in a Hevron hospital.
Hamas Says Fatah are ‘Collaborators’
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that Fatah was collaborating with the IDF to weaken Hamas in Judea and Samaria.
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud a-Zahar said the group would use its bombing expertise in its upcoming battles with Fatah in Judea and Samaria. He also said, in an interview with Germany’s Der Spiegel, that Fatah allies in Gaza working against Hamas would be pursued and executed.
Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that he was considering declaring Hamas-related humanitarian aid and terror groups illegal. He announced that all Non-Governmental Organizations must re-register with his newly-established Fatah-only Palestinian Authority government.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, Prime Minister of the PA from the Islamist group’s election victory until Abbas announced the establishment of his Fatah-only government last week, addressed Fatah in his Friday speech. "[Hamas] is a big force that nobody can wipe out," he warned. Saturday, he was reported to have called for renewed talks with Fatah, something Abbas has vocally rejected.
Abbas dismissed Rashid Abu Shubak Friday. Shubak was one of the Fatah commanders who failed to prevent Hamas from taking over Gaza.
Gazan Arab 'Refugees' Return Home
At least a third of the Fatah loyalists who appealed to Israel to rescue them from Hamas have now decided to return to Gaza, following their transfer to Egypt instead of their requested destination of Judea and Samaria.
Security officials say the return proves that the men were not in danger, but merely trying to take advantage of the situation to relocate to Judea and Samaria, where Fatah remains a force able to provide perks and funds.