Israel Matzav

Hamas plans to abduct and murder Israelis and hold their bodies for ransom

Hamas is planning to murder Israelis, take their bodies and then 'negotiate' their return to Israel.

The sources said Hamas activists believe they cannot keep Israeli hostages out of the Shin Bet and Palestinian Authority's reach for long. So they plan to kill them, abduct and bury the bodies, then negotiate returning them to Israel.

Hamas headquarters in Damascus and Gaza are pressuring organization cells in the West Bank to kill Israelis and abduct their bodies, in view of the effect Gilad Shalit's abduction has had on Israeli public opinion. Another reason for the pressure is the failure of Shalit's abduction to bring the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, the sources told Haaretz.

Hamas planned similar attacks in the Ramallah area in the middle of the last decade. In the past year, attempting to rebuild the organization's military networks that were damaged during the second intifada, it has returned to this line of action.

The Palestinian Authority and Israel have recently captured in the Ramallah region alone about five cells planning to kill Israelis and abduct their bodies.

And if we'd traded 1,000 terrorists for Shalit, I'm sure they would not have dreamed of doing this.

/sarc.

But remember the Moreno terror attack back in September? Well get a load of this:

On September 1, a day after a Hamas cell murdered four Israelis near the Beit Hagai settlement in the Hebron area, another cell opened fire at an Israeli couple from Ma'aleh Efraim in a car on the road to the Rimonim settlement east of Ramallah. The terrorists overtook Moshe and Shira Moreno's car and opened fire at them.

At this stage their plan went wrong. The AK-47 ("Kalashnikov" ) rifle the attackers were using jammed and the couple, although injured, jumped out of the car and rolled down the wadi beside the road. The terrorists stopped their car and approached the Israeli vehicle. When they saw it was empty they took a bag containing documents from the car and fled. The couple hid in the wadi and were saved by the darkness. The husband was moderately injured and his wife lightly injured.

The security services and police figured out what vehicle the militants were driving from findings left on the road. About 24 hours later the Palestinian defense forces arrested the cell members in Ramallah. Three of them are still imprisoned in the city and the PA apparently intends to put them on trial, although it is not clear on what charges.

The interrogated militants said they had intended to kill their targets and abduct the bodies. They had dug graves in advance near their home village of Silwad east of Ramallah, they reportedly said.

Moshe Moreno told Haaretz this week: "I didn't think at that moment when we jumped out of the car. It was instinctive. I was a combat soldier, but I don't know why I decided to jump. We hid in the wadi. The terrorists were so surprised when they couldn't find us in the car that they ran away.

"We lay in the wadi for 18 minutes until Magen David Adom came. We heard the paramedics speaking in Hebrew and came out of hiding. Physically we've recovered, but not emotionally. We live in fear. The IDF must arrest those terrorists. You can't count on the Palestinians to keep them in jail," he said.

The picture at the top is of Avi Sasportas and Ilan Sa'adon HY"D (May God avenge their blood), two IDF soldiers who were kidnapped and murdered in 1989 and whose bodies were found much later.

Their murderer was Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

Labels: Avi Sasportas, Hamas, Ilan Sa'adon, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Palestinian terrorism, Rabbi Moshe Moreno

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:39 AM 1 comments

Will 'Palestinians' bring real charges against shooters?

The 'Palestinian Authority' has captured the two terrorists who shot Rabbi Moshe Moreno and his wife Shira on September 2 after the IDF's investigation hit a dead end. Now, the IDF wants to see what charges are brought against the terrorists.

Several days after the Morenos were shot, Palestinian security forces claimed to have arrested two suspects, both Hamas operatives, from Silwad, a Hamas stronghold about 9 km. northwest of the Rimonim junction and the birthplace of the terrorist group’s Damascus-based leader, Khaled Mashaal.

The arrests were carried out by the PA, The Jerusalem Post has learned, after the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) hit a dead end in their investigation.

“The question now is how the PA will charge the shooters,” one defense official said on Monday. “We would like to see them charged with attempted murder, and this will be a real test of the PA and its reformed legal system.”

In the past, the PA has indicted perpetrators of terrorist attacks against Israel for “harming national interests” but has mostly refrained from pressing serious charges. Two Palestinians who shot and killed two off-duty IDF soldiers near Hebron in 2007 were sentenced by the PA to 15 years in prison after they surrendered because they feared capture by Israel.

According to defense officials, the PA has made significant progress in recent years, particularly with its security forces, which have cracked down on Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the West Bank. This has led to a dramatic drop in IDF operations inside Palestinian cities, the officials said.

I don't believe they'll be charged with attempted murder. If they're charged, they won't be convicted. If they're convicted, they'll get off with a light sentence. And if they get a heavy sentence, they'll be freed as soon as it can be done quietly.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Khaled Meshaal, Palestinian Authority, Rabbi Moshe Moreno, Rimonim, terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:43 AM 1 comments