18 November 2002
IDF and Border Police operation at Palestinian Preventive Security
Service (PPSS) headquarters in Gaza City
(Communicated by Israeli military sources)
The Palestinian Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip, headed
by Rashid Abu Shoubak and Samir Mashrahawi, has changed over the past
two years from an organization whose purpose it was to thwart
terrorism into one that blatantly supports and assists it.
The PPSS has itself become a terrorist organization, generating,
initiating, backing, and giving protection to a great number of
terrorists and a long line of terrorist attacks, both against IDF
units and Israeli communities in the Gaza Strip.
Even half a year before the outbreak of the current violence, senior
members of the PPSS had begun to clandestinely induce terrorism. As
an example, the series of roadside bomb attacks on the Karni-Nitzanim
road throughout 2000, in which an Israeli soldier was killed,
received support and logistical backing from operatives within the
organization, including senior PPSS officers.
Since the outbreak of the current violence, the PPSS headquarters in
Tel al-Hawa converted itself into the main center for the
manufacturing of weapons and a safe haven for terrorists planning to
carry out attacks in the Gaza Strip. Within the headquarters, and
with full knowledge and consent from senior members of the PPSS, a
huge amount of weapons was manufactured and stockpiled.
These included: mortar-bombs, explosives, large numbers of grenades,
anti-tank missiles, and much more.
These weapons were handed out freely to terrorist cells belonging to
Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and Fatah, which used them to carry out
daily bomb and shooting attacks in the Gaza Strip.
A key figure in the manufacturing of these weapons was the chief
officer in charge of explosives in the PPSS, Talal Muhseen, who was
under the direct command of Abu Shoubak. Muhseen, 50, of Gaza, had in
the past been imprisoned in Israel for 18 years for carrying out a
terrorist attack. Muhseen exploited his resources and offices at the
headquarters in Tel al-Hawa to systematically manufacture large
quantities of weapons. In addition, Muhseen received large amounts of
money which he used to set up many weapons-manufacturing workshops in
Gaza City. Talal Muhseen's actions were carried out in full knowledge
and with the full support of the heads of the PPSS, Rashid Abu
Shoubak and Samir Mashrahawi.
Muhseen coordinated his activities with the Palestinian Authority
and the different terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip,
including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. The Islamic Jihad has recently
been behind the firing of mortar-bombs on Israeli communities, the
placing of roadside bombs, and the deadly terrorist attack in Hebron
in which 12 Israelis were murdered and 15 wounded.
Yussuf Miqdad, a resident of the Sheikh Ajin neighborhood of Gaza
City, was an officer in the PPSS at the time of his arrest by Israeli
security forces on November 14, 2002. In his interrogation, Miqdad
admitted that he had been ordered by his superiors to fire
mortar-bombs at Israeli communities, while accompanied by wanted
operatives of Hamas. Miqdad also admitted that, during the past two
years in the PPSS, he had worked with other officers to manufacture
hundreds of mortar-bombs, anti-tank shells, and rockets. He told
security forces that Talal Muhseen was the officer in charge of
weapons-manufacturing.
Other information that surfaced from Miqdad's interrogation was about
how the PPSS actively sponsored and encouraged the setting up of many
workshops in Gaza City used to manufacture weapons. These weapons
were used by many different terrorist organizations to carry out
attacks against IDF units and Israeli civilians. Miqdad also told
security forces that the PPSS had also manufactured a cannon with an
especially large bore.
A captain in the PPSS, Nabil Houdoud, recruited Yussuf Miqdad at the
beginning of the intifada to manufacture weapons. He started off as a
courier, bringing thousands of shekels from his commander to Muhseen.
This money was used to set up weapons-manufacturing workshops. Later,
instructed by his commander, Miqdad persuaded his brother, Hisham
(also arrested by the IDF on November 14) to join him in
manufacturing weapons. In his interrogation, Hisham admitted that he
had produced over 1,000 stabilizers for anti-tank missiles.
Miqdad revealed that there was a whole network of
weapons-manufacturing workshops, whose owners had been "persuaded" by
Muhseen and his people to work for them. This network consisted of:
* Miqdad's workshop, which produced thousands of stabilizers for
anti-tank missiles, and 122 mm mortars;
* Samir Sbagh's workshop in Jebalya, which produced 122 mm
mortar-bombs;
* The Abu al-Ful family workshop in Jebalya, which produced
mortar-bombs;
* Monsur Fasih's workshop in the Shati refugee camp.
These weapons-manufacturing workshops were all subsequently
demolished by the IDF.
According to Miqdad, many officers in the PPSS took part in the
manufacturing of weapons or in the "persuading" of workshop owners in
Gaza to manufacture weapons. Among them: Talal Muhseen, Yussuf
Miqdad, Hatem Ashqar, Abdullah Karim Zayim, Munir Abu Sal, Hatem
Hamrawi, and Yussuf Silawi.
Miqdad also divulged that PPSS officers had taken part in firing
mortars at Israeli communities, as well as taking part in other
terrorist attacks. Other terrorists involved are: Safwat Rahman,
Ayman Abu Tel, and Suhiel Batuji.
Miqdad emphasized that he was sent many times by Muhseen to transfer
molds for mortar-bombs from the workshops to the warehouse in the
Shati refugee camp. As a result of the poor conditions in the
warehouse, an explosion occurred in which two residents were killed.
The network of weapons-manufacturing workshops run by the Palestinian
Preventive Security Service under the command of Muhseen produced
thousands of mortar-bombs, anti-tank missiles, rockets, and various
other kinds of weapons. It was revealed that Muhseen had made every
effort to produce such weapons to enable the different terrorist
organizations (including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad) to carry out
terrorist attacks inside Israel.
The military wing of the Fatah organization, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades, has long been under the dominance of the PPSS in the Gaza
Strip. Operatives of this organization, who are responsible for a
series of vicious terrorist attacks, received a large quantity of
weapons from the PPSS. Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and Palestinian
Popular Resistance organizations also received support and protection
from the Palestinian Preventive Security Service.