The Closure of the Polytechnic University and the Islamic College in
Hebron
IDF Background Briefing
15 January 2003
I. The Polytechnic University in Hebron
A. The Polytechnic University in Hebron was founded in 1978. The
institute offers various engineering programs and brings together
some 1000 students from throughout the West Bank. The students belong
to a number of parties identified with various organizations, such
as: Hakatala Islamiya - Hamas, Jam'a Islamiya - Islamic Jihad,
Shabiba - Fatah and Jabhat al-Amal - which are left-wing elements.
The different parties hold rallies that include incitement to commit
terrorist attacks.
The students exploit the university environment and the tools it
provides for planning and carrying out terrorist attacks. In
addition, the students acquire their knowledge in the preparation of
explosives and sabotage devices, both in classes and thanks to the
resources available to them at the university.
When IDF forces entered Hebron during Operation Defensive Shield
(April 2002), two suitcases of explosives were found in the apartment
of students studying at the Polytechnic University in Hebron. In
another incident, during questioning by the Israel Security Agency
(ISA) an activist named Mahmoud Abu Turki confessed that a member of
his cell by the name of Ashraf Asfour, a student at the Polytechnic
University, used the Polytechnic's computers to get into the Izz
Al-Din Al-Qassam website and download files explaining how to prepare
explosive devices.
B. It should be noted that in recent weeks a number of fatal attacks
have been carried out in the Hebron area, emanating from the
Polytechnic University in Hebron, in which 18 Israelis were
killed.
- On November 15, 2002, 12 Israelis were killed and over 20 others
were injured in a terrorist ambush along the "Worshipers' Route" in
Hebron, during which grenades were thrown and shots were fired at the
security forces. The terrorists were students at the Polytechnic
University in Hebron.
- On December 27, 2002, 2 IDF soldiers and 2 civilians were killed
and 10 were injured when 2 terrorists infiltrated a yeshiva in the
settlement of Otniel and went on a murderous rampage there. The
terrorists who carried out the attack were students at the
Polytechnic University in Hebron, as was the operative who directed
the attack.
- On April 27, 2002, 4 Israeli civilians were killed when 3
terrorists infiltrated the settlement of Adora. Those carrying out
the attack were also students at the Polytechnic University in
Hebron.
C. Below are details of the main parties identified with Hamas and
Islamic Jihad:
1. The Hakatala Islamiya party at the Polytechnic University
Hakatala Islamiya is headed by Hamas operatives whose activities in
this framework serve as a springboard for more senior positions in
the Hamas organization. Hakatala Islamiya organizes conferences and
rallies in which the party's positions are transmitted, including
rejection of a political solution to the dispute, encouragement of
terrorist attacks and so forth. Hakatala Islamiya serves as a central
focus for identifying and recruiting operatives for the military wing
of Hamas, for the purpose of carrying out attacks against Israeli
targets. Thus a senior Hamas cell in Hebron, which carried out a
number of fatal attacks during the year, in which Israeli civilians
were killed, includes many students from the Polytechnic University
in Hebron. Among the attacks carried out by the cell was the
infiltration into the settlement of Adora in April 2002, and the
infiltration into Karmei Zur in June 2002.
Notable terrorists and Hamas operatives who are students at the
Polytechnic University:
Tarek Dopash, carried out the infiltration of Adora in April 27, 2002
in which 4 Israelis were killed.
Fadi Douik, the other terrorist in the Adora attack, who succeeded in
escaping and was captured two months later by the ISA.
Rafat Jouaba, a terrorist who was on his way to carry out a suicide
attack inside Israel, but was killed in Hebron on April 11, 2002
while wearing an explosive belt.
Mourad Shahin, a senior operative who collaborated with senior
members of the Hamas infrastructure in Hebron.
Muhammad Younes Oudeh, a senior member of Hakatala Islamiya and
liaison for senior members of Hamas.
Muhammad Abu Wardeh, responsible for bomb attacks in Jerusalem in
1996 in which dozens of Israelis were killed.
2. The Jam'a Islamiya party at the Polytechnic University:
The Jam'a Islamiya party is headed by students who are active in
Islamic Jihad. During the current wave of events many of them joined
in the military activities of Islamic Jihad. Students from Jam'a
Islamiya were involved in the terrorist ambush on the "Worshipers
Route", in which 12 people were killed, and the infiltration into
Otniel in which 4 people were killed.
Notable terrorists and Islamic Jihad operatives who were students at
the Polytechnic University:
Muhammad Abu Tabiah, originally from Jenin, returned to his town
after completing his studies and participated in perpetration of the
attacks by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad infrastructure in Jenin,
headed by the suicide attack at Megiddo Junction in June 2002 in
which 17 Israelis were killed.
Wala'a Sarour, one of the terrorists who carried out the "Worshipers
Route" ambush killing 12 members of the security forces.
Akram Hanini, one of the terrorists involved in the "Worshipers
Route" ambush in which 12 members of the security forces were
killed.
Ahmed Pakiya, carried out the infiltration into yeshiva in Otniel in
which 2 Israelis were killed.
Muhammad Shahin, involved in the infiltration into the yeshiva in
Otniel in which 4 Israelis were killed.
Iman Tabish, a senior Islamic Jihad military operative who was
involved in preparing the infiltration into yeshiva in Otniel.
Nadel Janidi, an operative who was arrested in November 2001 and
confessed during questioning by the Israel Security Agency (ISA) that
he had been recruited to carry out a suicide attack for the
organization.
Muhammad Seidar, headed the Jam'a party at the Polytechnic University
in Hebron and today heads the military wing of Islamic Jihad in
Hebron.
II. Hebron University
A. Hebron University was established as an Islamic college in 1972 by
the mayor of Hebron, Muhammad Jabari, and was recognized as a
university in 1984. Hebron University has some 2,500 students, most
of them residents of Hebron and the Hebron villages, and students
from the West Bank.
The student council is traditionally controlled by the Islamic bloc,
but the Hebron University Employees Committee and its management are
identified with Fatah, which often creates serious friction between
the organizations and is reflected in attempts by the administration
to limit the influence of Hamas in the university.
The university was closed when the Intifada broke out in 1987 and
reopened in 1990. Following a wave of suicide attacks in 1996, Hebron
University was closed for six months.
B. Hakatala Islamiya at Hebron University
1. Hakatala Islamiya holds rallies, at which speeches are given
presenting the Hamas position, and sometimes there are ceremonies and
presentations such as burning models of settlements and kidnapping
soldiers.
Many students were involved in the activities of the Hamas military
wing. In 1998 a military cell was uncovered at Hebron University, in
which a considerable volume of activities were managed by Hakatala
Islamiya. The cell detonated explosive devices and threw Molotov
cocktails in the area of al-Aroub. Members of the cell who carried
out terrorist activities were activists in Hebron University.
Below are details of the students who were active in this cell:
Moussa Ouaouda, served as head of the student council and emir of
Hakatala Islamiya at Hebron University until 1998.
Basal Dodin, was a member of the student council at Hebron University
and assisted people wanted by the IDF.
Akram Atrash, a military operative killed in April 2002, served as a
recruiter and operator of military cells in Hebron.
Tla't Issa, military Hamas operative, recruited in 1997 to the
military wing of Hamas by Akram Atrash and charged with identifying
candidates for suicide attacks.
2. On February 10, 2002 an attack was carried out near the
Southern Command HQ in Beersheba in which two women soldiers were
killed. The attack was carried out by Muhammad Batat, originally from
Dahariya, a student at Hebron University, and Khaled Tal, a Hamas
operative from Dahariya.
3. In addition, a document seized in the course of Operation
Defensive Shield revealed that in the laboratory of the Chemistry
Department in the Faculty of Science at Hebron University the Hamas
leadership at the university trained its people in preparing the
explosives used in terrorist attacks. This is done under the close
supervision of the dean of the Faculty of Science, Dr. Fahad
Takrouri, and Dr. Khatam Maraka.
The letter, addressed to the head of Preventive Security in the West
bank, Jibril Rajoub, by the person responsible for preventive
security in the Bethlehem area, reveals that the supervisor of the
laboratories at Hebron University, the lecturer Ibrahim Kabaja, said
`that people unrelated to the field of chemical research entered the
laboratory and demanded that he open it up for them, without
remaining present there. Samples of the chemicals that the operatives
left behind in the laboratory were examined and it emerged that they
were explosive materials, not matching in any way the aims and
curriculum of Hebron University. In addition, the supervisor of the
laboratories reported that chemicals were taken out of the university
laboratories and that when he opened the laboratory in the morning he
found objects there that had not been there the previous evening.
4. During October 2002, the ISA arrested a Hamas cell from the Hebron
area whose members were residents of Hebron and the surrounding
villages. The cell members confessed during questioning by the ISA
that they had been recruited this year to carry out terrorist attacks
against Israeli targets, and that they were in the advanced stages of
planning the infiltration of the settlements of Tene and Otniel and
carrying out a shooting attack at Fouar Junction.
Those arrested were: Amjad Ahmed Muhammad Abu Arkub, Ali Muhammad Ali
Asafara, Issa Ismail Issa Salah, Ali Ibrahim Muhammad Akili, Ahmed
Muhammad Mansour Abu Jim and Mahmoud Mahmad Hamad Abu Turki -
students at Hebron University, and Ashraf Amran 'A-Fatah Asfour, a
student at the Polytechnic University in Hebron.
From questioning members of the cell it emerged that Amjad Abu Arkub
was recruited in May 2002 by Nabil Oudeh, a senior Hakatala Islamiya
operative from Hebron University, and Muhammad Abu Wardeh, both of
them among the leaders of the military wing of Hamas in Hebron. Amjad
was instructed to set up a cell, train its members and collect
information on IDF bases in the Hebron area, in order to plan and
carry out attacks.
Amjad recruited Ali Atzafara, a member of the cell, who admitted
during questioning that, under the direction of his Hamas handlers,
he infiltrated the Karmei Zur settlement on June 8, 2002 and killed 2
of the residents and an IDF soldier. Atzafara carried out the attack
with Ahmed Masalma, a operative in the military wing of Hamas and a
resident of Beit Aou who was killed in the attack. During questioning
of the members of the cell, combat equipment was seized, including
several weapons which had been purchased for the purpose of
committing the attacks.
5. In November 2002, 3 wanted members of the Hamas military wing were
arrested in Hebron: Muhammad Abu Wardeh, Nabil Taleb Oudeh and Mourad
Bader Shahin. During the arrest they were found to be in possession
of weapons including 2 rifles, 2 handguns, a grenade and additional
magazines and ammunition. This organization was planned to carry out
a suicide attack at the high school yeshiva in Givat Haharsina in
Hebron.
Nabil Oudeh, aged 22, a resident of Hebron, senior operative in
Hakatala Islamiya in Hebron and active in the military wing of Hamas.
In September 2001, he sent another student from Hebron University
named Muhammad Klalweh to Ramallah to meet with an operative who was
supposed to send him to carry out a bombing attack in Israel. For
reasons which are not clear, the attack was postponed and the suicide
bomber was captured before he succeeded in carrying it out.
Nabil Oudeh and Abu Wardeh together recruited additional operatives
to carry out bombing and shooting attacks in the Hebron area and
within the Green Line. Jedalla Rajoub and Rami Zakzouk, both students
at Hebron University, were arrested in the past two months on the
basis of their connections with the cell's activities.
C. Jam'a Islamiya at Hebron University
Asama Sharitah, who was head of the Jam'a Islamiya party at Hebron
University, was arrested in November 2001 and confessed during
questioning by the ISA to having carried out a number of shooting
attacks and planning to kidnap a soldier. Sharitah worked under the
guidance of senior members of Islamic Jihad in Hebron as part of the
infrastructure which carried out the suicide attack at the French
Hill Junction in Jerusalem in November 2001, in which 2 Israeli
civilians were killed, and was behind the shooting at "Worshipers
Route" in Hebron in November 2002 in which 12 Israelis were
killed.
D. The Shabiba at Hebron University
Louis Tamizi, a resident of Idna and a student at Hebron University,
was arrested in April 2002 and admitted during questioning by the ISA
that he had been chosen as a Shabiba operative at Hebron University
in April 2001. During his studies, Tamizi joined up with a senior
Tanzim operative from Dura, who recruited him to the ranks of the
military Tanzim in February 2002. Tamizi carried out two bombing
attacks with him in the Dura area, with the aim of killing Israelis.
He also recruited two other operatives from Idna to work in the
cell.
Conclusion
The above information clearly indicates that the two institutes, the
Polytechnic University in Hebron and Hebron University, are fertile
ground for terrorism and a hothouse for breeding terrorists and
suicide bomber. The institutes provide the knowledge for assembling
explosives, the components for preparing them and an environment in
which to work. They are a convenient and accessible base from which
to recruit operatives for the different terrorist infrastructures.
Many students from both institutes have played a considerable and
active role in terrorist activities against Israeli targets, under
the sponsorship of the institutes and while taking advantage of the
'academic cloak' to conceal their activities. The broad range of
terrorist activity emanating from the institutes of higher education
in Hebron has resulted in many attacks claiming a large number of
Israeli victims.