An IDF armored personnel carrier missed its intended target in a Saturday afternoon preemptive strike. Soldiers stationed in P\'sagot were aiming for leading Tanzim terrorist Mahound (Abu Hallawa) Dirya, who sustained light-to-moderate injuries from the first rocket. Dirya fled his vehicle before the second missile hit which destroyed the vehicle. Israeli officials report that Dirya was responsible for the following attacks: the murder and injuring of two security guards at a National Insurance Institute office in Jerusalem last October; the murder of three Israelis in November; the murder of two Israelis in drive-by shootings in November and December; the murder of Rabbi Binyamin Ze\'ev Kahane and his wife Talia and the injury of their five daughters in December; the murder of a Greek monk in a June drive-by shooting near Ma\'aleh Adumim, and many others. Dirya has been on an Israeli wanted list for some time and was in the process of planning further attacks, according to security officials.
Dirya was senior aide to Tanzim terrorist leader Marwan Barghouti. Barghouti insists that the failed attack was an intended assassination against himself.
As far as Deputy Minister of Public Security Gideon Ezra is concerned, Marwan Barghouti should be “marked for death.” \"He is not a leader of any political movement but one of the worst of the terrorist leaders today...\" Ezra, who also served as former deputy head of the General Security Services (GSS), said that there is no difference between Barghouti and any other individual who’s responsible for the murder of Jews. While “his arrest would be useful… I can’t arrest him, so I have to neutralize his activities in another way.” Ezra believes that the Arab states are still deterred by their losses to Israel in past wars and that they will not seek out an armed confrontation with Israel again.
Dirya was senior aide to Tanzim terrorist leader Marwan Barghouti. Barghouti insists that the failed attack was an intended assassination against himself.
As far as Deputy Minister of Public Security Gideon Ezra is concerned, Marwan Barghouti should be “marked for death.” \"He is not a leader of any political movement but one of the worst of the terrorist leaders today...\" Ezra, who also served as former deputy head of the General Security Services (GSS), said that there is no difference between Barghouti and any other individual who’s responsible for the murder of Jews. While “his arrest would be useful… I can’t arrest him, so I have to neutralize his activities in another way.” Ezra believes that the Arab states are still deterred by their losses to Israel in past wars and that they will not seek out an armed confrontation with Israel again.