It was announced today that a group of Bedouin residents of Tel Sheva, near Be'er Sheva, had conspired to kidnap and murder Israeli soldiers. At a press conference today, Southern District Police Commander Dudi Cohen said that the cell was headed by a Hamas terrorist from southern Gaza who had recruited the Bedouin for his plan. The terrorists planned to bury their victims in the vast sandy areas of the Negev.
Cohen said that about a month ago, the four cell-members even got as far as having a hitch-hiking soldier get in their car. For reasons that are not as yet clear, their plan did not go through. It was as a result of that incident that the police were able to get a lead on and arrest the would-be murderers.
In a related item, it was learned yesterday that Israeli intelligence and security agencies had broken up - two months ago - a Hamas terrorist cell based in the Ramallah area. One of the Hamas terrorists is an Israeli-Arab, and another is a Jordanian citizen.
The cell is responsible for a number of deadly terror attacks that claimed 17 lives and left others with permanently disabilities. Among the attacks ascribed to the cell are the Tzrifin Junction bombing (9 soldiers killed) and the Cafe Hillel attack in Jerusalem (7 people killed, including a bride and her father the day before her wedding), as well as other aborted attacks. The apprehended terrorists were in the midst of planning additional attacks when taken into custody. The investigation led to the discovery of thousands of M-16 and 9mm bullets, weapons, magazines, military grade explosives, and assorted stolen IDF weapons.
Soldiers of the Nahal Hareidi unit interdicted a personal bodyguard of Palestinian Authority prime minister Ahmed Qurei today as he attempted to smuggle a large quantity of weapons through IDF checkpoints. The terrorist, Mahmoud Rushanak, had hidden 12 Kalachnikov rifles and dozens of full clips on the floor of a taxi he had hired. The smuggling operation was foiled at the Hamra checkpoint in the northern Jordan Valley.