Jerusalem, 6 March 1996
TERRORIST CELL UNCOVERED
(Communicated by the Israel Police National Headquarters Spokesman)
The GSS and the IDF have uncovered the Hamas cell behind the terrorist bombings in Jerusalem and Ashkelon on 25 February and 3 March 1996.
GSS intelligence and investigative efforts revealed that members of the cell operated at the Teachers' Seminar in Ramallah, an area under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
In coordination with the Palestinian Authority, Muhammad Attiya Mahmud Abu-Warda (20), a resident of the Fawar refugee camp near Hebron, and Rafiah resident Abd Rabbo Moussa Suliman Sheikh Eid (26) were arrested both students at the Teachers' Seminar in Ramallah.
The cell members were recruited and trained by a Hamas fugitive from the Gaza Strip, who recruited them in Ramallah in February 1996 and instructed them to recruit youths who identified with Hamas and who were prepared to carry out suicide attacks.
Mahmud Abu-Warda, a Hamas member belonging to the cell, recruited three youths to carry out suicide attacks and arranged a meeting for them with the fugitive from Gaza.
The three are:
* Majdi Mahmad Mahmud Abu-Warda (19), a resident of the Fawar refugee camp near Hebron, who carried out the suicide attack against bus #18 in Jerusalem on 25 February 1996.
* Ibrahim Ahmad Hassan Sarahne (25), also of Fawar, who carried out the Ashkelon Junction suicide attack on 25 February 1996.
* Ra'ad Abd al-Karim Mahmad Sharnubi (21), a student at the Teachers' Seminar in Ramallah and a resident of Burka, suspected of perpetrating the suicide attack on bus #18 in Jerusalem on 3 March 1996.
The investigation of the cell is continuing.