Ayad ‘Abid
Abdallah ‘Abid
1. Combined Israel Security Agency and Israeli police activities in the Jerusalem district led to the detention of two Hamas operatives in November. The two, residents of East Jerusalem , carried Israeli ID cards. They planned various terrorist attacks, including the abduction of border policemen to be exchanged for imprisoned Hamas terrorists.
2. The two were Abdallah ‘Abid , 21, detained on November 19, and Ayad ‘Abid , 29, detained on November 24. Both were residents of the village of Issawiya (northeast of Jerusalem , east of Mt. Scopus ). Indictments were filed against both on December 14.
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| Ayad ‘Abid | Abdallah ‘Abid |
3. During interrogation the two admitted that in recent months they had planned the following attacks:
i) The abduction of border policemen guarding the temporary roadblock in Issawiya. They intended to use a tractor to ram the police jeep and to abduct its occupants. They planned to use them to obtain the release of Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails.
ii) Snatching weapons from policemen.
iii) Shooting at the nearby border police base.
iv) Taking a hang glider in Abdallah’s possession and arming it with explosives , and flying it over the nearby border police base.
4. During interrogation they also admitted involvement in burning ballot boxes in Issawiya on November 11, 2008, Jerusalem municipality election day.
5. In preparation for the attacks they contacted an arms dealer and collected money to buy a gun. A search of their homes revealed a stun gun, a dummy pistol, batons and knives. Masks and gloves were also found, which the terrorists were apparently going to wear in an attack.
Conclusion
6. The detention of two Hamas operatives is another indication of the rise in terrorism in Jerusalem carried out by Israeli East Jerusalem Arabs who carry regular Israeli ID cards. That rise is also reflected in the increase in the number of Israeli Arabs detained for involvement in terrorist activities, especially conspicuous in view of the relative calm and small number of terrorist attacks originating in Judea and Samaria this past year. 2
7. Also conspicuous is Hamas’s motivation to abduct Israelis , especially members of the security forces, to improve what they consider their bargaining capabilities to negotiate the release of Palestinian prisoners. In recent months that motivation has been manifested by their declaration of intent to abduct Israeli soldiers, the training of Hamas operatives (and those of other Palestinian terrorist organizations) in abducting Israelis and in carrying out attacks which were prevented by the Israeli security forces. Two examples are the November 4, 2008 attempt to abduct an Israeli through a tunnel under the border security fence, and the attempted infiltration of a terrorist squad into Israel through Egypt to abduct Israeli soldiers and smuggle them into the Gaza Strip. 3
1 According to an Israel Security Agency report .
2 For further information see our date Bulletin entitled " Jerusalem as a focus for terrorism .”
3 For further information see our October 26, 2008 Bulletin entitled " The Israeli security forces detained a terrorist from Rafah who infiltrated into Israel through Egypt. ”
