Israel Matzav

Two 'Palestinians' arrested in Tulkarm for making rockets

Two 'Palestinians' have been arrested by the IDF and the Shin Bet in Tulkarm, just over the green line, for making rockets to be fired at Israel. Significantly, the 'Palestinians' are members of 'moderate Palestinian President' Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen's Fatah Tanzim organization, and were financed by Hezbullah.

In a joint IDF-Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) operation, policemen from the Yamam Border Police counter-terror unit arrested two leaders of the Tanzim terror group in Tulkarm - allegedly behind attempts to manufacture homemade rockets that could be fired at cities in the Sharon region.

Last week, policemen from Yamam arrested Hassan Ufi and Watar Amara in Tulkarm, it was released for publication Saturday night. The two, security officials said, received logistical and financial support from Hizbullah. During the arrest, security forces discovered a large weapons cache including several rockets in the midst of being assemble and several sacks filled with explosives.

In July, a Palestinian attempt to fire a homemade rocket from Tulkarm failed but raised concern within the defense establishment that terror groups in the West Bank were trying to copy their counterparts in the Gaza Strip - behind the almost-daily firing of homemade Kassam rockets at Israeli communities in the South.

OC Home Front Command Maj.-Gen. Gershon Yitzhak told The Jerusalem Post in May that the IDF does not plan to begin reinforcing rooftops in the Sharon region which would be in range of rockets.

'It would be very difficult to mass produce [Kassam] rockets while the IDF is in control of the territories in Judea and Samaria,' Yitzhak said.

If Israel, however, decided to withdraw from the territories, Yitzhak said that the need to reinforce Sharon-region buildings would have to be reevaluated.

Then why would Israel be stupid enough to surrender that territory?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:05 AM