Possibly in honor of Purim, the theme of which is the turning of the tables on our enemies [see Esther 9,1], two Islamic Jihad terrorists engaged in preparing a bomb to be used against Jews were killed when the explosive went off earlier than they had planned. The incident occurred in Tzaide, near Tul Karem, early this afternoon.
It could have been another fatal terrorist attack, but a new experimental IDF unit thwarted it in time. It occurred outside Itamar, just south of Shechem, in central Shomron. Around 10 PM last night, a force of Mivtzar unit soldiers - local residents drafted to guard the area - encountered a four-man terrorist cell attempting to infiltrate a civilian outpost known as Gidonim, or Hilltop 851. A short firefight ensued, but the terrorists managed to escape back to the village of Furik, to the east of Itamar. Ran Segal, who participated in last night's defense of the community, told Arutz-7 today that a more successful end would have been had they managed to kill those who came to murder them. IDF commanders praised the new Mivtzar unit for its effective work in preventing a serious attack.
Eleven Israelis have been killed in several terrorist attacks in or near Itamar during the 30-month-old Oslo War. Most notably, three yeshiva high school students were murdered last May when an Arab infiltrated the community, and less than a month later, Rachel Shabo, three of her seven children, and local emergency team member Yossi Tuito were murdered when a terrorist entered the Shabo home.
In other attacks last night, Arabs fired an anti-tank missile at a guard post in Kfar Darom in Gush Katif... An Israeli couple from Efrat, in Gush Etzion, was shot at as they passed the Arab village of El-Hader near Bethlehem... East of Ariel in the southern Shomron, an Israeli vehicle was targeted in a firebomb attack near the Arab village of Marda. No one was hurt in these incidents... This morning, a mortar shell landed in the area of Kibbutz Kissufim, east of the Gaza Strip. No injuries or damage were reported... A Kassam rocket hit an empty bus in Sderot; no one was hurt... A female terrorist was apprehended on her way into Jerusalem this afternoon...
Seven Arab terrorists were killed in Gaza last night during an IDF counter-terrorist operation. Among the dead were two PA navy men and long-wanted and leading Islamic Jihad terrorist Mahmed Safian, 39. Arutz-7's Kobi Finkler reports that Safian was wanted back in the 80's when he belonged to Fatah, and in the early 90's he escaped from the country. Israel allowed him to return after the signing of the Oslo Accords, and he joined the PA's intelligence wing. He resumed his terrorist activities when the PA initiated the Oslo War, and initiated a long series of attacks - despite several warnings by Israel's General Security Service. He was responsible, inter alia, for an attempted car-bomb attack at the Gush Katif junction last spring.
In Jenin, too, large IDF forces are taking forceful action against terrorist infrastructures. Five terrorists have been arrested there since last night, dozens of others were apprehended in Shechem and Hevron, and several suspects were taken into custody in Gaza. PA sources say that among those arrested in Shechem was Palestine Legislative Council member Hussam Hader. Hader is a senior commander of the Tanzim terrorist militia and is responsible for the deaths of scores of Israeli civilians.
It could have been another fatal terrorist attack, but a new experimental IDF unit thwarted it in time. It occurred outside Itamar, just south of Shechem, in central Shomron. Around 10 PM last night, a force of Mivtzar unit soldiers - local residents drafted to guard the area - encountered a four-man terrorist cell attempting to infiltrate a civilian outpost known as Gidonim, or Hilltop 851. A short firefight ensued, but the terrorists managed to escape back to the village of Furik, to the east of Itamar. Ran Segal, who participated in last night's defense of the community, told Arutz-7 today that a more successful end would have been had they managed to kill those who came to murder them. IDF commanders praised the new Mivtzar unit for its effective work in preventing a serious attack.
Eleven Israelis have been killed in several terrorist attacks in or near Itamar during the 30-month-old Oslo War. Most notably, three yeshiva high school students were murdered last May when an Arab infiltrated the community, and less than a month later, Rachel Shabo, three of her seven children, and local emergency team member Yossi Tuito were murdered when a terrorist entered the Shabo home.
In other attacks last night, Arabs fired an anti-tank missile at a guard post in Kfar Darom in Gush Katif... An Israeli couple from Efrat, in Gush Etzion, was shot at as they passed the Arab village of El-Hader near Bethlehem... East of Ariel in the southern Shomron, an Israeli vehicle was targeted in a firebomb attack near the Arab village of Marda. No one was hurt in these incidents... This morning, a mortar shell landed in the area of Kibbutz Kissufim, east of the Gaza Strip. No injuries or damage were reported... A Kassam rocket hit an empty bus in Sderot; no one was hurt... A female terrorist was apprehended on her way into Jerusalem this afternoon...
Seven Arab terrorists were killed in Gaza last night during an IDF counter-terrorist operation. Among the dead were two PA navy men and long-wanted and leading Islamic Jihad terrorist Mahmed Safian, 39. Arutz-7's Kobi Finkler reports that Safian was wanted back in the 80's when he belonged to Fatah, and in the early 90's he escaped from the country. Israel allowed him to return after the signing of the Oslo Accords, and he joined the PA's intelligence wing. He resumed his terrorist activities when the PA initiated the Oslo War, and initiated a long series of attacks - despite several warnings by Israel's General Security Service. He was responsible, inter alia, for an attempted car-bomb attack at the Gush Katif junction last spring.
In Jenin, too, large IDF forces are taking forceful action against terrorist infrastructures. Five terrorists have been arrested there since last night, dozens of others were apprehended in Shechem and Hevron, and several suspects were taken into custody in Gaza. PA sources say that among those arrested in Shechem was Palestine Legislative Council member Hussam Hader. Hader is a senior commander of the Tanzim terrorist militia and is responsible for the deaths of scores of Israeli civilians.