TEL AVIV — Israel has reported the capture of a senior Palestinian
insurgent.
The military said Salah Mohamed Bukhari was captured on late Dec. 7 in
the West Bank, Middle East Newsline reported. Bukhari, based in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, was
identified as a senior operative of the Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad.
"An Islamic Jihad operative suspected of involvement in a string of
terror attacks in Israel was arrested overnight Dec. 7 in a joint effort by
the Israel Defense Forces Duvdevan Unit and the Shin Bet Security Service,"
a military statement said on Dec. 8.
Also In This Edition
Officials said Bukhari had been wanted by Israel since 2002. In that
year, Bukhari was said to have driven two suicide bombers to the central bus
station of the Israeli city of Kfar Sava, in an attack that injured 28
people.
The military said Bukhari was involved in several suicide strikes and
the planting of improvised explosive devices in the Nablus area. Officials
said Bukhari had been hiding in Nablus over the last seven years.
"Bukahri was also involved in activities against Israel Defense Forces
soldiers," the military said. "In 2002 he attempted to carry out a car
bombing and to detonate large explosives against IDF soldiers. Between
2002-2003, Buchari planned to abduct Israeli soldiers and to construct an
explosives-manufacturing lab inside Israeli territory."
Jihad has long been the most active Palestinian insurgency group in the
West Bank. In 2008, the militia reduced operations amid the start of
Israeli-Palestinian Authority coordination.
For its part, Jihad said an Israeli ground force arrived in Al Yamoun
near Jenin on Dec. 6. Three Jihad operatives were arrested in a gun battle
said to have lasted all night.
