Israel arrests two explosives-ladened Palestinian Activists in West Bank

09/08/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Occupation Army Arrests Hamas Member in Qalqilya||Curfew Lifted on Hebron & Qlaqilya||Tenet to Meet Palestinian Minister to Discuss New Security Plan||Palestinians Accuse Sharon of Planning to Sabotage Their Talks With Top U.S. Officials in Washington|| Israel Deploys a Second Battery of Arrow Anti-missile Missiles|| STORY: Two Palestinian Resistance activists carrying belts of explosives were arrested by the Israeli occupation army in the northern West Bank town of Qalqilya overnight.

The pair were said to be members of the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas and were on Israel's wanted list for having carried out anti-Israeli attacks.

Two other Palestinians were detained for questioning.

Palestinian security sources identified one of the Hamas men grabbed as Ibrahim Dehmess, and said he was slightly wounded in the operation.

Qalqilya has been reoccupied together with six other major West Bank towns since June 19 and is located only some 15 kilometres (nine miles) east of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

OCCUPATION ARMY ARRESTS HAMAS MEMBERS IN QALQILYA

Occupation troops arrested two wanted terrorists and two suspected terrorists near Kalkilya, according to an IDF spokeswoman.

One of the wanted terrorists was senior Hamas military leader Ibrahim Abdel Rahman Ahmen Nahmas, the spokeswoman said.

Nahmas live in Kalkilya and is known to have been involved in several terror attacks against Israel, she said.
In addition to making the arrest, soldiers confiscated a bomb belt, an Uzi gun and several explosive devices.

CURFEW LIFTED ON HEBRON AND QALQILYA

Israeli media sources today reported that Hebron and Kalkilya remain curfew-free today.

Hebron and Kalkilya's curfews were lifted yesterday.

The night curfews on Jenin, Nablus and Bethlehem, according to the report, remain in effect.

TENET TO MEET PALESTINIAN MINISTER

CIA Director George J. Tenet plans to meet Saturday with the Palestinian interior minister to accelerate a new plan to tighten security in the West Bank and Gaza.

"We're anxious to get some specific action started, especially with respect to security," Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday.

The minister, Abdel Razak Yehiyeh, a former Syrian army officer, was appointed in June by Yasser Arafat amid accusations by President Bush that Palestinian authorities were encouraging terrorism, not opposing it.

Yehiyeh and two other ministers, Saeb Erekat, a longtime Arafat adviser, and Maher Masri, who is in charge of Palestinian economic affairs, met with Powell and Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser, in the highest-level U.S. contact in the six weeks since Bush demanded Arafat's ouster.

On Friday, the Palestinians were due to see William Burns, the assistant secretary of state for the Near East, and Fred Schieck, the deputy director of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Erekat said his people were near starvation.

Tenet is in charge of U.S. efforts to formulate a plan designed to screen out Resistance bombers. His past efforts, which included trips to the region, did not end the violence.

SHARON COMMENTS ANGER PALESTINIANS

A Palestinian official on Friday accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of trying to sabotage Palestinian talks with U.S. officials by branding the Palestinian Authority a "terror gang" in a televised speech.

Palestinian Cabinet Secretary Ahmed Abdel Rahman said Sharon's speech to a graduating class at Israel's Defense College on Thursday was timed to interfere with the Palestinian delegation's visit to Washington.

Sharon declared in his speech that he would not negotiate with the Palestinian leadership and said Palestinian leaders would have to be removed before there could be an end to fighting that has lasted nearly two years.

ISRAEL DEPLOYING ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM

Meanwhile, Israel is deploying a second battery of Arrow anti-missile missiles in the center of the country.

The deployment comes amid speculation that the United States will attack Iraq, though the White House said Thursday that no decision has been made.

A photo on the front page of Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper showed the radar of the Arrow system already in place at Ein Shemer, east of the central Israeli town of Hadera. The missiles themselves are to be deployed later, according to the report.

In a statement on the subject, the military made no reference to the growing tensions between the United States and Iraq, saying only that the Arrow battery is being deployed as part of a multi-year test program.

The deployment comes despite strong opposition by local residents, fearing radiation from the radar, Yediot said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinian top negotiator Saeb Erekat gestures as he departs the State Department after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington, August 8, 2002. Top U.S. and Palestinian officials on Thursday pledged renewed efforts to reduce violence in the conflict with Israel, but remained at odds over U.S. demands to ostracize Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang
- Aug 08 5:54 PM E