Raed Mahmed Raef Karmi - Jan 14- 2002

Raed Mahmed Raef Karmi
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Raed Mahmoud Raef Karmi, a Tanzim operative, born in 1974, was a resident of Tulkarem.

The Palestinians had been reporting for some time that Raed Karmi had been imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority; so the PA claimed to European governments. Thus, we are again confronted with a situation in which the PA claims to have imprisoned a terrorist even though this was not the case.

Since the beginning of the current wave of Palestinian violence in October 2000, Karmi had been the leading member of a murderous Tanzim cell that was responsible for numerous shooting attacks in the Tulkarem area, in which both Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed and wounded.

In media interviews, Karmi had made it clear that he was determined to continue terrorist attacks against Israel and that he wanted to expand them. In a CNN interview on August 23, 2001, Karmi stated firmly: "We train the teenagers to carry out terrorist attacks inside Israeli territory.We train 17- and 18-year-olds to attack settlers, kidnap soldiers inside Israel." In other interviews, he also described his involvement in the kidnapping and murder of two Israeli restaurateurs in Tulkarem.

Raed Karmi acted directly under Marwan Bargouti, head of the Tanzim in Judea and Samaria and was under his direct supervision.

Raed Karmi was involved in the perpetration of many terrorist attacks, including:

• Numerous shooting attacks on IDF and Border Police bases in the area of Tulkarem.

• Oct 20, 2000: participated in shooting attack on bus of Golani soldiers that mistakenly entered the city.

• Dec 7, 2000: Shooting at an Israeli vehicle near the village of Burke, seriously injuring soldiers and a female civilian.

• Jan 23, 2001: Kidnapping and murder of two Tel-Aviv restaurant owners, Motti Dayan and Etgar Zeitouny, in Tulkarem.

• May 31, 2001: Karmi participated in a shooting attack on an Israeli vehicle in Baka el-Sharkia, in which Zvi Shelef of Mevo Dotan was killed.

• June 18, 2001: Shooting attack near in Einav, in which an Israeli civilian, Dan Yehuda of Homesh, was killed and Alex Briskin was injured.

• July 4, 2001: The murder of Eliahu Na'aman near the village of Suweika.

• July 30, 2001: Shooting attacks near the Israeli Arab village of Bir Saha, in which three Border Policemen were injured - one, Hani Abramov, a female officer, was severely wounded.

• Aug 26, 2001: The murder of Dov Rosman of Netanya near the village of Zaita.

• Sept 6, 2001: Shooting attack on an Israeli vehicle near Kibbutz Bahan, in which an off-duty IDF officer, Lt. Erez Merhavi was killed and a fellow female officer was injured.

• Oct 5, 2001: Shooting attack in which an Israeli citizen, Hananya Ben-Avraham of Elad, was killed.

• Oct 28, 2001: Karmi was involved in a shooting attack near Kibbutz Metzer in which an IDF officer, Yaniv Levy, was killed.

• Oct 29, 2001: Attempt to detonate a bomb in the home of a naval officer in Raanana.

• Nov 19, 2001: Shooting attack on a taxi near the Shavei Shomron junction, in which three Israeli citizens, including the rabbi of Shavei Shomron, were injured.

• Nov 28, 2001: attempt by two suicide bombers to infiltrate into Israeli territory, foiled by reinforced IDF forces along the Green Line near Tulkarem.

• Dec 15, 2001: An abortive suicide attack in which the explosive charge blew up prematurely near Shaar Ephraim; only the terrorist was killed.