PROFILE OF A TERRORIST
(Article by David Regev, "Yediot Ahronot", May 19, 1996, pp. 3, 23)
45 dead and 91 wounded - this is the number of victims for whom Hassan Abdel Rahman Salameh is responsible.
Salameh, alias Abu-Ahmed, was born 25 years ago in Khan-Yunis to a large family, and joined the ranks of Hamas at an early age. It started with throwing stones, and escalated to the murder of those suspected of aiding Israel. Israel's security forces arrested Salameh in 1992 due to his membership in Hamas. Following his release he managed to go to Jordan and, from there, on to Sudan and Syria where he passed through a series of training courses with, among others, National Front leader Ahmed Jebril.
Salameh also spent time in the camp of the Hamas deportees in Southern Lebanon, where he accumulated knowledge and experience and knowledge in the field of terrorism.
In 1994, he returned via Egypt to Gaza, and began operating in the framework of the Iz a-Din el-Kassam group. His primary work involved shooting at IDF forces and on settlers in the Gush Katif region. In some of the incidents, he wounded soldiers. Eventually, he was wounded by a member of the family of one of the collaborators whom he had killed. In moderate condition, he was arrested and imprisoned by the Palestinian police for three months.
Early this year, he joined Muhamed Dief, head of Hamas' military arm. It was Dief who instructed him to go to the West Bank, and set up a squad of suicide attackers who would carry out their attacks in the heart of Israel. Armed with intelligence, instructions and apparently with supplies, Salameh departed for the West Bank. He contacted Jamil Abu-Warda, a student living in al-Fawr, and assigned him the task of setting up a suicide cell. Within a short time, Abu Warda recruited three suicide bombers, among them a family member, and convinced them to carry out suicide attacks: at Ashkelon junction and two on Jerusalem's #18 bus. 45 people were killed and 91 wounded in these attacks. Salameh gave the bombers their final instructions before they departed on their missions.
Shortly following the attacks, Abu Warda was arrested and he divulged Salameh's identity. From that moment he became the second most wanted man after Dief. At the same time, he continued to plan attacks and remained in contact with Hamas operatives in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. He even passed them messages and money.
Over several months, the Israeli and Palestinian GSS pursued him. A few times they managed to reach the place where he was staying, but he succeeded in slipping away only moments before. Over the weekend Salameh's luck ran out and his path of terror was halted.