Palestinian Authority armed forces arrested a senior Hamas terrorist in Shechem on Monday. The detainee was identified as 36-year-old Rajab Ash-Sharif, who has been considered dead for more than seven years.
Sharif served as the head of Hamas armed forces in the Shechem region and trained other terrorists, including some who planned major attacks. In 2001, Hamas announced that Sharif had been killed in a bombing on Jeneid prison in Shechem. The bombing was meant to assassinate Sharif's student, Mahmoud Abu-Hanoud, who had planned several major terrorist attacks.
Abu-Hanoud survived the attack and later officially informed Sharif's family that Sharif had been killed.
Approximately one year later, the family publicly mourned Sharif, and “martyr” posters bearing his image were distributed in the city.
PA officials said Monday that they had first suspected Sharif was alive when IDF soldiers attempted to arrest him in November of this year. The soldiers told Sharif's family that they knew he was alive, and expected him to be turned over to Israeli forces.
Following the IDF operation, PA forces began to watch Sharif's house, and saw him visit his family. On Sunday night, PA forces burst into the house and arrested him.
Hamas lashed out at the Fatah-led PA for the arrest, accusing the PA of working with Israel and “stabbing the Palestinian resistance in the back.”