Weapons Workshops in Refugee Camps
(Communicated by Israeli security sources)
January 2003
Since the beginning of the Aqsa intifada a large number of weapons workshops have been uncovered in the heart of densely populated Palestinian refugee camps in Judea and Samaria. By engaging in this practice, the Palestinians have violated international agreements and resolutions.
During operations Defensive Shield (April 2002) and Determined Path (June 2002), Israeli security forces exposed an abundance of sabotage materiel, explosives, detonating devices, and bombs intended to be used in terrorist attacks - all of which were manufactured in weapons workshops situated in Palestinian refugee camps in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip.
The issue of the Palestinian refugee camps is dealt with on an international level by a long line of resolutions, agreements, and treaties in various forums, such as the UN Security Council, the Red Cross, the European Union, and others.
The weapons workshops were situated in refugee camps to camouflage their activity. They were set up in the heart of densely populated civilian areas, sometimes in an apartment near a school, or next to a kindergarten, or by a crowded commercial area.
The workshops were established in areas that were easily ventilated, such as sheds or rooms with many windows.
It goes without saying that considerations of safety or the possible harm that might befall the innocent civilian population in case of a mishap were not taken into account by the terrorist elements when situating the weapons workshops in the heart of the refugee camps.
For example, Mahmoud Sarahne, a Tanzim terrorist, stated during his questioning that in March 2001, Ahmed Moughrabi, a senior Tanzim operative, established an explosives laboratory in the Dehaishe refugee camp near Bethlehem. The laboratory was used to manufacture bombs, which were later used in terrorist attacks against Israel. It was situated in the Dar Hamash neighborhood next to the Rouwdat Ibdaa Kindergarten, with which it shared a common wall - a fact that indicates the amount of risk the Palestinian children were exposed to in the event of an explosive work accident. Sarahne confessed that the laboratory contained gas canisters, explosives, fire extinguishers, and pipes for manufacturing bombs - all of which were separated from the kindergarten by only an interior wall.
In another case, Tanzim operative Ibrahim Adnan Akhay admitted during questioning that there was an explosives laboratory in the marketplace of the Balata refugee camp near Nablus. Next to the laboratory was a warehouse where the manufactured bombs were stored.
Similarly, an explosives laboratory was found in the Ein Beit Ilma refugee camp, also near Nablus, that contained the powerful TATP explosive and an abundance of weapons.
A large number of weapons workshops were uncovered in the Jenin refugee camp
Shadi Amouri, a senior PIJ operative, who participated in the terrorist attack at the Megiddo junction on June 5, 2002 in which 17 people were killed and 42 wounded, admitted during questioning that he was familiar with the explosives laboratory in the Jenin refugee camp where the bomb used in the Megiddo attack was made. The lab was situated in Jenin's Old City near a public square. Amouri stated that the lab contained five canisters filled with explosives, each weighing approximately 70 kilograms, and that two white electrical wires a half-meter long protruded from each.
In another case in the Jenin refugee camp, during the night of August 12, 2002, a routine IDF patrol discovered a number of mortar shells, homemade grenades, and bullets in a building.
On the night of August 28, 2002, a joint IDF-ISA operation uncovered an explosives laboratory in a cave in the Jenin refugee camp. Dozens of kilograms of material for manufacturing explosives, a large pipe bomb, bottles of hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide, IDF uniforms, and various types of powders were found.
It should be noted that UNRWA teams recently involved in removing debris and unexploded shells and explosive charges from the Jenin refugee camp suspended work, due to demands by Palestinian terrorist organizations that UNRWA hand over the material so they could use it for terrorist purposes.
We are witness to the fact that, even when the UN initiates the humanitarian activity of removing dangerous leftover sabotage material from a refugee camp in an effort to protect the residents, its teams are opposed by the terrorist organizations. The conclusion is that the Palestinian terrorist organizations value only the carrying out of terrorist attacks, and attach no importance to the safety of their fellow Palestinians.
In a similar case, an explosives laboratory was operating in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm. During the interrogation of a wanted suspect apprehended by security forces in the city, he confessed information that led to the exposure of the laboratory, which produced explosives and rocket parts and contained raw material, machine tools, and systems for assembling Kassam rockets. The laboratory also contained hexamine, gunpowder, and TATP - explosives used in the manufacture of Kassam rockets.
Laboratories located in the heart of refugee camps were also uncovered in the Gaza Strip. In a search of the home of a resident of the Khan Yunis camp following an explosion on its roof, the Palestinian Police found pipe bombs, rockets, flares, and remotely detonated shells.
The international community deals with the issue of the refugee camps on various levels. Over the years a number of humanitarian decisions have been made in order to protect the civilian population of the camps and ensure its security and living conditions. Among other things, these decisions are anchored in resolutions of the UN Security Council, in Red Cross documents, and various international treaties.
This, for example, was determined by UN Security Council Resolution 1208:
"The Security Council... affirms the civilian and humanitarian character of refugee camps... and in this context stresses the unacceptability of using refugees and other elements in refugee camps... for achieving military objectives...."
In a guide published by the International Committee of the Red Cross to the Law on Armed Conflict (with regard to the use of "human shields"), it states:
"Civilians shall not be used to shield, further, or impede military operations. Not only may civilians not be forced to provide cover for military operations, but the presence or movement of civilians may not be exploited for the purpose of defending against military operations."
Accordingly, we conclude that the Palestinians, by operating explosives laboratories and weapons workshops in the heart of refugee camps, are blatantly violating international agreements. Such violation joins a long list of Palestinian activities in violation of the spirit of the international community.
The weapons workshops that manufacture explosives, bombs, and armaments in the center of densely populated civilian residential areas pose an immense danger to innocent lives and are a blatant violation of international law.