Israeli police, Shin Bet round up Jerusalem-based terrorist gang
The gang of 7 Jerusalem Arab residents and one Palestinian were sought for the murder of two Israeli policemen, Rami Zohari and David Shriki, in two separate terror attacks in the city earlier this year. They were indicted at the Jerusalem district court ten days ago for murder, attempted murder, and gunrunning.
The gang, led by Muhammad Abu Sneina, 21, from Anata, Jerusalem, was arrested in advanced stages of preparing more murder, kidnap and shooting attacks in and outside Jerusalem.
Although the indictment does not cite any terrorist organization, debkafile‘s counter-terror sources report they belonged to Fatah and Hamas and joined forces to terrorize Jerusalem with the help of funding from outside the country.
Abu Sneina led the first attack on Jan. 24, on the police guard at the Shuafat checkpoint. He passed through with his Israeli identity card, then turned back and shot Rami Zohari and a woman police officer. He grabbed Zohari’s weapon and escaped.
On July 11, Abu Sneina shot two police guards at Lions’ Gate of the Old city. One of them, David Shriki, died after a long struggle with his injuries.
The Shin Bet investigation turned up a long list of further hits plotted by the gang, taking advantage of the Jerusalemites’ freedom to move around the city as residents.
The last attack by a 19-year Arab from the Jebel Mekaber in southern Jerusalem, who drove his car into a crowd of Israeli soldiers and injured 23, was lauded by Palestinian terrorist media as “heroic” and “innovative.”
Abu Sneina ran two terrorist rings in Jerusalem and Hebron from a flower barrow at Herod’s Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem. His father was jailed for murdering Israelis and released in the prisoner swap of 1984.
Since early 2007, more and more Jerusalem Arabs are joining the cycle of anti-Jewish terrorist violence. The Shin Bet points to the lack of deterrent action by the law and order authorities and urges the application of such measures as destroying a guilty terrorist’s home and more sanctions against his family, such as stopping their Israeli government welfare allowances.