August 22, 2001
Map Of Hamas And Islamic Jihad Terrorism (Analysis by Yoav Limor, Ma'ariv, Shabbat supplement, pp. 8-10, August 17, 2001)

In the absence of conter-terrorist action by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants are continuing to act freely in Area A and initiate murderous attacks on an unprecedented scale. Today, most of the effort is directed towards sending suicide-terrorists, but there are plans to send car-bombs, attack public figures, abduct soldiers, etc., etc. Security officials have recently sketched a reasonably precise picture of these two organizations' operational infrastructure on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

First publication: Last week, the Palestinian Authority revealed a major explosives laboratory that operated in the home of a senior Hamas military organization militant in Ramallah. Last Thursday, several hours after the attack at the Jerusalem Sbarro restaurant, Palestinian security service personnel arrested two senior Hamas officials, Abdallah Bargouti and Bilal Othman. Their names have been passed on to the Palestinians several times in recent months, along with information on their involvement in terrorist activities and a demand for their arrest; however, the Palestinians did not act against them and even warned them that they were "in danger of being eliminated."

The most recent demand for Bargouti's arrest was passed on to the Palestinians the morning of the attack in Jerusalem. In talks between ISA (Israel Security Agency) and senior Palestinian preventative intelligence and general intelligence officials, it was explicitly said that Bargouti was involved in preparations for carrying out a suicide attack "in the immediate term." It became known after the fact that Bargouti was the one who sent the explosives-laden belt and instructions to Iz e-Din Masri, who perpetrated the suicide-attack in Jerusalem. This information was known to the Palestinians who let him continue operating.

Only last Thursday evening did Palestinians go to Bargouti's home to arrest him. At the same time, they also raided Othman's home and were astounded to discover a major explosives factory, in which Hamas had prepared powerful bombs that were destined to be delivered to suicide-terrorists. This laboratory had dozens of kilograms of explosive material for use in preparing bombs. The Palestinians impounded the equipment and took Othman with them but have so far refused to publicize the discovery and arrest out of fear that this will serve as proof of Israel's claim flourishing terrorist activities are being carried out under their noses.

The refusal to arrest terrorist militants is very troubling to Israel in light of the growing motivation and efforts by Hamas and Islamic Jihad to perpetrate major attacks on Israeli soil. Since the Tenet document - which requires that the Palestinians arrest wanted fugitives - was agreed to on 14.6.2001, Israel has passed on detailed lists, including the names of more than 100 terrorist militants (most of whom belong to Hamas or Islamic Jihad) who have been involved in terrorist actions. Except for a few "protective" arrests, which are designed mainly to protect the fugitives from Israeli eliminations, the Palestinians haven't done anything. Islamic Jihad and Hamas militants continue to act freely in Area A and initiate murderous terrorist actions on an unprecedented scale. Today, most of the effort is directed towards sending suicide-terrorists, but there are plans to send car-bombs, attack public figures, abduct soldiers, and perpetrate a long list of (frightening) attacks.

The terrorist organizations' ardour to perpetrate attacks makes it somewhat easier for the ISA to collect intelligence. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are aware that their zeal to perpetrate attacks "here and now" detracts from compartmentalization and secrecy, but from their point-of-view, this is a calculated risk which is vastly outweighed by the desire to hurt Israel. This crazy pursuit of attacks is also responsible for the fact that several of the bombs sent to Israel, as well as several of the suicide bombers, have been of poor quality.

On the other hand, Israel, today is observing a large wave of Palestinian youths volunteering for suicide missions. Against the background of the economic situation in the territories and the growing hatred of Israel. The ISA estimates that there are dozens - and maybe more - of potential suicide-terrorists, and many additional candidates are joining daily. The leaders of Hamas, who are devotedly calling on young Palestinians to sacrifice themselves for the struggle, are taking strict care to send their children abroad. Only last month, Hamas's spokesman in Gaza, Abdul Aziz Rantisi, openly called at a conference "to follow the path of the martyrs," but sent his son, Muhammad, for a long period abroad. Mahmoud Abu-Zahar and Abdul Nimr Hamdan (who said that, "The gates of paradise will be opened to the martyrs") have done likewise and sent their sons outside the territories for long periods.

Even the names of most of the potential suicide-terrorists - who haven't been activated - have been passed on by Israel to the Palestinians. Two weeks ago in the Kalkilya region, the IDF arrested Nihad Abu-Kishak, a militant in Hamas's military wing, who was active in the gang that sent the suicide-terrorist to the Tel Aviv Dolphinarium. Among Abu-Kishak's things were found the last will and testament of Basat Ouda, who planned to commit suicide in another attack. Israel demanded Ouda's arrest, as well as that of Muhammad Khalil and Jimil Jedallah, two additional potential suicide- terrorists from Samaria. The three continue to go about freely, waiting to be sent on missions. The assessment in Israel is that the explosives-laden belts have already been prepared and that the only delay stems from the difficulty in leaving the territories, which is a function of the physical pressure that the IDF is placing upon the Palestinian cities.

This pressure - along with the new response policy, which was first tried out in Jenin last week - is designed to both make things difficult for the Palestinian Authority with the goal of getting it to act against the terrorist infrastructure operating on its territory. This concerns wide-ranging activity (that is growing on a daily basis), which mainly involves Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants, who were released from Palestinian prisons at the beginning of the conflict. In light of the flow of information and details which have become clear from the questioning of detainees, Israel has succeeded in sketching a reasonably precise picture of the two organizations' operational infrastructures in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This picture - which was passed on to the Palestinians - is published here for the first time, and it is very disturbing from the point-of-view of concern over additional headline-grabbing attacks on Israeli territory.

Hamas

Most of its strength is in the Gaza Strip, in its organizing of approximately 150 military activists. Salah Shahadeh - one of those who established Hamas in 1988 and was schooled in the concept of setting up small and compartmentalized "terror cells" which operate separately in each district under directives from the supreme command - leads the organization. Shahadeh had been imprisoned in Israel and later under the Palestinian Authority and has been described as a man of unusual leadership qualities and the organization's military strategist. His position is much higher than that of, say, Muhammad Dief, due to - inter alia - his religious qualifications and his knowledge of sharia.

Shahadeh, a resident of Bait Hanun, is active mainly in the area of Gaza city; however, he commands an organization that is spread out in all parts of the Gaza Strip. About two months ago, the Palestinian Authority tried to arrest him (after the attack on Shikma beach in which two IDF soldiers were killed in the explosion of a jeep-bomb), however its people were repulsed by Hamas militants. Since then Shahadeh has acted like a fugitive; however, from his hiding place, he continues to guide ramefied terrorist activity. The only things that hinder him are the fence that separates between the Gaza Strip and Israeli territory, and the IDF's success in preventing terrorists from infiltrating inside the Green Line. For this reason, the organization is concentrating its efforts on attempts to perpetrate attacks against settlers and IDF forces inside the Gaza Strip, with the sending of car-bombs and suicide-terrorists on the agenda.

In addition to the Gazan core, there exists two more Hamas organizations - in Samaria and Judea. The Samarian group has been responsible for the majority of major bombings that have occurred in Israel over the past few months, foremost among them, the suicide attacks on the Dolphinarium, the mall in Netanya, the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem, Neve Yamin, the French Hill intersection in Jerusalem, Bekaot checkpoint and Kfar Saba. At the head of this organization, which numbers 60 militant extremists, were Jamal Mansour and Jamal Dimoni who were killed in a helicopter attack on their offices in Nablus. Other organization leaders who were killed are Salah Darawzeh - who was killed last month by missiles fired by an elite ground force on Mt. Ebal; Hemad abu-Hijla; Muhammed B'shart; Aamar Hadiri and Ibrahim abd-el Karim, who was the organization's senior "engineer".

This group operates in parallel in Nablus and on the Tulkarm-Kalkilya fromt. The head of the Nablus cell is Imam Halaweh (whose arrest Israel demanded on 17.7.2001), who is also responsible for a web of connections with collaborators among Israeli Arabs. Additional prominent extremists in this cell are Salim Hajeh; Mohened Taher; Nasim abu-Rus and Ghaser Samro.

The parallel cell is led by Keis Adiwan, who is directly responsible for the attack on the Netanya mall, laying the bomb on Allenby street in Tel Aviv and the terrorist who perpetrated the attack at Mei-Ami junction in Wadi Ara. Two sub-cells operate beneath him. One in Tulkarm under the command of Abbas Said (whose arrest was requested by Israel on 13.7.2001) coordinates attacks in the Sharon region, and the other near Kalkilya directs its efforts to attacks in the Tel Aviv region. The leader of this cell is Rahaman Hemad along with Nasser Nzal and Raad Hotri. Hemad was arrested by the Palestinians after the attack on the Dolphinarium, but was released at the end of last week due to heavy Hamas pressure.

The defense establishment sees these organizations as the principle danger in the current period. A senior source estimated this week that if the Palestinian Authority would arrest the main figures, the number of attacks in Israel would drop by 70%. The organization's main power derives from "the Islamic Circle" at A-Najah University in Nablus, which in recent months has turned into the main "production greenhouse" of Hamas suicide bombers.

The Hamas organization in Judea is much smaller and numbers only tens of members. Because of geographic distance and military pressure, the group has difficulty carrying out attacks inside Israel, and concentrates its efforts on attempted attacks on soldiers and settlers on the Hebron-Bethlehem front. Senior leaders of the Judea group are Omar Saada, Khaled Tafesh, Naji Abiat and Hisham Sharbati, considered an explosives expert. The main attack perpetrated by this group was on December 8th in the Hebron region in which Rina Didovsky and Eliyahu Ben-Ami were shot to death.

Islamic Jihad

Islamic Jihad is also deployed along the same fronts, although its principle force is in northern Samaria. The organization (which lost its leader, Iyad Hardan, who was killed in an exploding public phone booth in Jenin, in April) rests mainly on militants from Kabatiya and the Jenin refugee camp, and is responsible for a series of attacks, including the attempt to infiltrate a bomb on to a bus at Sde Trumot, the suicide-attack in Binyamina, the suicide attack on the "Wall Street" restaurant in Kiryat Motzkin, the bomb that was discovered last Friday in Haifa and the attack that wasn't carried out on the Carmelit in Haifa.

At the head of this group stand Thabet Mardawi (whose arrest Israel requested on 14.6.2001) and Muhammed Noresi Tuwalbeh (whose arrest Israel requested on 11.7.2001), who sent his brother, Murad, to commit suicide on the Carmelit; at the last minute Murad got cold feet, and after he was caught, he provided the ISA with the names of the rest of the cell members and of Israeli Arabs who aided them. Other leaders of this group - which numbers approximately 30 people - are Waal Issaf; Osama Barhum; Assad abu-Daka; Bassem Saadi and Ali Tzipori. The lack of quality explosive materials and qualified experts to prepare bombs is conspicuous in this group, and is the main reason for a series of failed attacks that it instigated.

The Samarian group often relies on Israeli Arabs as opposed to the Hamas which fears entangling them in hostile activites. In almost every Islamic Jihad cell can be found collaborators from the Arab villages, particularly from the Wadi Ara region. They house them in their homes and transport them to the area of the attack, using their blue identification cards. A number of Israeli Arabs involved terrorists activities in the framework of Islamic Jihad have been arrested over the past months, and there is information on additional collaborators who have yet to be arrested.

Another Islamic Jihad organization operates in Judea. The most prominent of its leaders is Issa Batat from Bethlehem, who leads a military group of around 20 people. A much larger organization exists in Gaza (approximately 70 militants) headed by Muhammed el Hindi, who serves as "Chief of the Operations Mechanism" of the organization. A number of senior fugitives operate by his side, among them Shaker Jaaberi; Ziad abd El-Al (whose arrest was requested by Israel on 18.6.2001); Mokaled Salama, Nabil Shrihi, Riad abu Hashish, Hisham abu-Div, who was responsible for the bombing of Dizengoff Center in March 1996; Muhammed Hawajeh and Mahmoud Zatmeh, Senior "Engineer" of the organization, who together with el-Rul of Hamas, is considered the top explosives expert among the Palestinian organizations.

On the fringe of the terrorist effort is the Popular Front, whose main point of strength is in Ramallah. This is a relatively small organization responsible for sending two car bombs to Jerusalem. At the head of the organization stands Aad Olameh (whose arrest was requested by Israel on 14.6.2001), who is well connected to the Palestinian security apparatus in the region.

This terrorist infrastructure presents today's main threat on the tranquility of Israel's citizens, and the main "headache" of the ISA (along with efforts to hunt the perpetrators of shooting attacks in the territories, particularly Tanzim militants and Force 17). Reports during the week indicated at least three different cells simultaneously activating suicide bombers in different regions within Israel and the existence of plans to carry out tens of additional attacks in the near future. These warnings translated quickly to police and IDF deployments along the seam line and in the large cities in an effort to frustrate the planned attacks.

Despite the ISA's relative success in dealing with the wave of attacks (according to statistics provided by Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, 80% of attacks have been prevented), senior sources clarified this week that we are dealing with a "clear and present danger", the strength of which only increases the longer the conflict drags out and the greater the hatred of Israel becomes among Palestinians. In addition to the attacks on Israel, the terrorism constitutes a tangible threat to the Palestinian Authority. The IDF and ISA are insistent that Yasser Arafat does not understand the scope of the danger, and does not see the signs that attest to the weakening of his regime and the strengthening of the terrorist organizations, particularly Hamas.

Thus, Israel's main fear is that by the time Yasser Arafat decides to act against the Hamas and Islamic Jihad, it will be too late. Then we will not only have to deal with the extensive terrorist infrastructure - that will operate with more freedom than it has today - but also with the militant leadership that openly supports it, with no chance to reach any diplomatic achievements at all.