The IDF spokesman released a statement following yesterday\'s downing of arch-terrorist Amar Mansur Hassan Madiri saying that the army \"will continue its preemptive strikes in order to protect and defend the citizens and soldiers of the State of Israel.\" According to the release, Madiri had become, over the last few months, a top aide to senior Hamas terrorist Fuaz Badran in Tul Karem. In the framework of his new \"responsibilities,\" Madiri was directly involved in enlisting, training, and dispatching suicide bombers to population centers. Specifically, Madiri was accelerating preparations for a major attack to involve mass casualties in the next few days. IDF choppers fired direct hits on Madiri\'s car yesterday, thereby ending his terrorist career.



Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer revealed that at 6 AM today, a suicide bomber was captured in the Tul Karem area. He was the intended recipient of one of the explosive belts that were in Madiri\'s car, who was killed yesterday in an Israel Air Force raid.



Yesterday, the Defense Ministry published \"a partial list of Palestinians who continue to plan and carry out attacks after Israel’s request for their arrest.\" Deputy Defense Minister Dalia Rabin-Pelossof said, \"We have concrete evidence that these people are involved in preparing suicide bombings and making explosives.\" Ahmed Qurieh, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said that the Israeli offensives against terrorists may force the Palestinian leadership to return to \"underground resistance.\"