Security forces are on high alert as mounting intelligence reports have suggested that the Islamic Jihad could be planning suicide bombings inside Israel. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility on Friday for the suicide bombing that killed Lieutenant Ori Binamo and two Palestinians a day earlier. The organization identified Suheib Ibrahim Yasin, 19, from the West Bank village of Ilar, as the bomber who blew himself up after being stopped at a checkpoint near Tul Karm. Binamo, 21, a platoon commander in the Nachshon infantry battalion, was buried in Haifa’s military cemetery on Friday. Three of his soldiers were wounded in the bombing, one seriously and two lightly. Over the weekend, the IDF arrested 16 residents of Ilar and nearby villages on suspicion of belonging to the Islamic Jihad. However, senior military sources admitted that the Jihad network is still active and capable of dispatching more suicide bombers. The police deployed hundreds of officers in the large cities to secure New Year’s Eve parties. On Friday, the IDF raided a Palestinian military intelligence compound in the Jenin refugee camp, in a search for Jihad fugitives. The IDF Spokesman’s Office said the intelligence commander at the compound admitted that Jihad members use it, but said they had fled before the troops arrived. A wanted Hamas operative was arrested in the town of Yata, south of Hebron. Gaza operation continues Meanwhile, the IDF is continuing Operation Blue Skies in the northern Gaza Strip. Palestinians have been barred from reaching the former settlements Elei Sinai, Dugit and Nisanit, and only policemen are allowed in the area, on roads prearranged with the IDF. The army has been shelling the area frequently, and conducting strict aerial surveillance of areas adjacent to the „buffer zone,” which is reportedly used by the cells launching Qassam rockets. There were no launches over the weekend. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said during a visit to Ashkelon on Friday that he is convinced the IDF operation will disrupt the rocket fire. „In time, you will see that the [IDF’s] activity is obtaining results. The purpose of the deployment over the past few days is to restrict the Qassam launchers’ momentum, and it is already succeeding in this,” Mofaz said. On Saturday, IDF troops came under light fire as they were moving along the Gaza Strip border and in the Jenin area. There were no Israeli casualties. Defense establishment sources on Saturday dismissed the threats made by someFatah factions yesterday to resume attacks against Israel after the end of the truce in the territories. The sources said the Islamic Jihad is not keeping the internal Palestinian truce agreement anyway. Hamas currently has no interest in resuming terror on a large scale, because it is interested in having the Palestinian parliamentary elections held on schedule and hopes to do well in them, the sources said. As for Fatah, it will make no difference if a few rogue groups start trying to commit suicide bombings, they said. Israel is more concerned over the growing anarchy in the Palestinian Authority. Sheikh Hassan Yusuf, one of the most senior Hamas leaders in the West Bank, who has been imprisoned in Israel for the past two months, announced on Saturday that he would not contend on the Hamas list in the elections. Hamas sources said Yusuf made this decision because of internal dissension between the movement’s local and overseas leadership.
BPI-info
BPI-info
