JERUSALEM — Palestinians have been joining Al Qaida and subsequently planning
operations in the West Bank.
Israel has tracked and captured several Palestinians charged with being
recruited by Al Qaida and authorized to conduct major attacks in Israel. The
Palestinians were recruited in Jordan, officials said.
"We believe [Al Qaida network chief in Iraq] Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi has
ordered recruiting the Palestinians," an Israeli official said.
So far, an Israeli military court has handed down indictments against
two Palestinians from the West Bank city of Nablus, Middle East Newsline reported. Azam Abu Al'aads and
Ba'lal Hafnaui, both 19, have been charged with joining Al Qaida and
planning major attacks in the Jerusalem area.
The indictments, served on March 21 in the military court in Samaria,
charged Al'aads and Hafnaui with conspiring to intentionally cause death,
active membership in Al Qaida and other charges. The two men were accused of
forming an Al Qaida cell in Nablus and planning a large-scale attack in
Jerusalem.
In 2005, the two men were said to have been recruited to Al Qaida in
Jordan. The indictments said they were ordered to establish an insurgency
infrastructure in the West Bank that would pave the way for major attacks in
Israel.
"Abu Al'aads and Hafnaui agreed and began to build up the infrastructure
in the area of Nablus, recruiting members and beginning to plan attacks," a
security source said. "The infrastructure was in close contact via the
internet with Al Qaida members in Jordan who issued them orders and also
transferred large sums of money to the Nablus based cell."
The indictment said the two Palestinians visited Jordan at least three
times over the last year. In the Hashemite kingdom, they met two Al Qaida
operatives and received briefings how to detect surveillance, form
insurgency cells and recruit operatives.
The indictment said the Al Qaida cell recruited suicide bombers to
strike a pizza store in Jerusalem's French Hill neighborhood. The attack was
also meant to include a car bomb that would be detonated after people rush
to the scene of the pizza store strike. On Dec. 10, Abu Al'aads and Hafnaui
were arrested as they crossed the Allenby Bridge from Jordan to the West
Bank and the attack was never carried out.
Officials said many of the new members of Al Qaida have come from Fatah
and Hamas. They said Israeli intelligence detected an Al Qaida presence in
the Gaza Strip as early as 2001, but this represented Palestinians who
returned from training in Afghanistan.
In the Gaza Strip, officials said, Hamas members have been recruited to
form an infrastructure that would largely be limited to indoctrination. In
contrast, Al Zarqawi has been recruiting Palestinians from the West Bank for
immediate attacks against Israel.
Hafnaui was a member of both Hamas and Fatah. The indictment said Alaads
and Hafnaui received about $4,200 of a planned $10,000 to conduct the double
bombing.
"There are thousands of young Palestinians with weapons who are looking
to make money," an official said. "They are ripe for recruitment for such
groups as Hizbullah or Zarqawi."