May 12, 2002
Booby Trapped Mosque in Nablus
(Communicated by Israeli security sources)
During the course of Operation Defensive Shield IDF forces arrested
Shukri Ya'ish, a twenty-seven year-old resident of Nablus. During
questioning, Shukri admitted that he was actively involved in the
production of arms for use in terrorist attacks against Israeli
targets. Among other things, he established bomb laboratories for the
Fatah organization in Nablus, and worked in the production of
explosives made from chemical compounds.
Shukri was also involved in the production of the Qassam rocket and
in preparations for the testing of the rocker. In addition, Shukri
was responsible for the production of about 120 improvised hand
grenades and dozens of explosive charges, which were transferred to
to Fatah/Tanzim terrorist operatives. He passed on a number of
explosive charges to Nasser Awis, a senior Tanzim operative in
Samaria who was also arrested during Operation Defensive Shield.
Shukri revealed that he received instructions to carry out terrorist
attacks from officers in the Palestinian Authority who while serving
in the National Security Apparatus were also involved in directing
terrorist operations.
During questioning, Shukri also disclosed that a short time before
his arrest, he had asked Rabia Abu Roub, a senior Islamic Jihad
operative from Qabatia, to prepare an explosives belt for his
personal use, in the event that he was arrested. Rabia prepared an
explosives belt for him, concealed inside military attire and
consisting of pockets holding canisters filled with explosives.
During the IDF operation in Nablus, Shukri realized that he would be
unable to approach IDF soldiers while snipers were deployed on
rooftops to protect Israeli forces from terrorists planning bombing
attacks.
Shukri also stated that he dismantled the explosives from the belt,
and placed them inside a fire extinguisher. His colleague, Maed
Jameil placed the explosive charge in the Al Satwan mosque, in the
Yasmina neighborhood of Nablus. Maed planned to connect the container
wires to a long electric cord leading to a car battery, and then to
hide away behind sand bags. He planned to detonate the explosives as
soon as the IDF soldiers reached the entrance of the mosque. IDF
soldiers foiled Maed's terrorist attack.
According to Shukri, aside from the aforementioned explosive device,
the mosque also contained 40 other explosive charges for the use of
the Fatah Tanzim terrorist operatives in Nablus.
Shukri and other operatives showed no hesitation in using holy
places, such as mosques and churches, for the execution of terrorist
attacks. Shukri's plan to detonate powerful explosives against IDF
soldiers near the mosque attests to the fact that Shukri was not
troubled by the thought of blowing up the mosque and destroying it.
It has also become clear that the fighting in Nablus was planned and
well organized. The IDF was not confronting defenseless civilians,
but, rather, well-armed terrorists equipped with explosive devices
and other weapons, with which they intended to kill as many Israeli
soldiers as possible.