"The armed terrorist was shot while attempting to escape the arresting
IDF forces," a military source said.
[On Saturday, Jihad gunners fired missiles into Israel from the Gaza
Strip. The Israel Air Force struck a Jihad target in the southern Gaza Strip
town of Rafah and two operatives were killed.]
Abu Ads, who survived several Israeli assassination attempts, was said
have led an insurgency cell based in the Palestinian refugee camp of Balata,
just
outside Nablus. His assistant, identified as Izzedin Bassem Azet Halawa, was
arrested.
Jihad has been based in Damascus and receives support from both Iran and
Syria. The sources said Abu Ads obtained orders from Jihad headquarters in
Syria.
The sources said Israeli troops found weapons and bombs in the Jihad
safe house in Balata. They said the cache included 15 pipe bombs.
In March 2007, the military detained a Jihad operative, Sharif Nazer.
The sources quoted Nazer as saying that he had been ordered by Abu Ads to
conduct a
suicide bombing in Israel.
Jihad has been deemed the most active insurgency group in the West Bank
amid the decision by scores of Fatah operatives to end attacks against
Israel. On Aug. 1, the Israeli military raided a factory in the West Bank
town of
Bet Sahour and seized material used in the assembly of explosives.
The military reported that the material included 50 liters of 50
percent concentrated hydrogen peroxide and two 25 liter tanks of 63 percent
concentrated nitric acid. It was not clear whether Jihad was responsible for
the chemicals.
"It is important to stress that without these materials, it will be more
difficult for the terror organizations to carry out deadly attacks," the
military said.
