Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar revealed this evening (Tuesday) during the statement he made after the cabinet meeting that the security establishment thwarted an attempt to manufacture rockets in Jenin that would be used to attack Jews living deep inside Israel.
Bar spoke about Tariq Muhammad Ezzedine, one of the Islamic Jihad leaders who was killed in the Gaza Strip last night and who directed the terrorist organization's activities in Judea and Samaria.
"Tariq Muhammad Ezzedine worked to copy the terrorism in Gaza to Judea and Samaria and operated over 20 squads whose purpose was to harm Israelis. Most of his activities were not known to the public but were well known to us," said Bar.
He noted that "in recent weeks we thwarted a cell in the area of the Jenin refugee camp that had already begun producing rockets and launchers in order to fire rockets from Samaria to Israel as well. We see this as a dangerous precedent. The members of the infrastructure were arrested and confessed. We have no intention of making Afula or Shaked a target for high-trajectory rocket fire."
"In recent months, a large number of Islamic Jihad terrorists have been arrested who are responsible for a very large number of attack alerts. Their arrest prevented the attacks from being carried out. We do not have time to wait to defend against the threats, we are acting on the attack against their dispatchers," he added.