Abdullah Arar, 29, a Hamas fugitive who planned and participated in the abduction and murder of Sasson Nuriel in September last year, was arrested by security forces overnight Monday in Ramallah.
Sasson Nuriel z"l, prior his murder.
Photo: AP
Sources in the Shin Bet said that most of the cell members involved in Nuriel's abduction and murder were arrested in the days after the incident, and details gleaned from them revealed that Arar was the key planner of the attack; he also participated in Nuriel's murder.
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According to security officials, Arar had known Nuriel for a number of years, and planned the abduction and the method cell members would use to persuade Nuriel to accompany them.
Security forces also arrested Mahmoud Abu Roub, a top Islamic Jihad commander in the West Bank, early Tuesday morning.
According to reports, Roub, along with others, was involved in planning attacks that were to be carried out in the near future.
Security forces surrounded his home in Kabatiya, near Jenin, before dawn, calling on Roub to surrender. When their calls were first ignored, troops employed pressure tactics to force the fugitive outside.
Roub eventually surrendered to troops, along with another fugitive that was inside the house with him. At the same time, two other Islamic Jihad fugitives from a nearby house also surrendered.
Searching Roub's home, troops uncovered three Kalashnikov rifles, 12 matching ammunition clips, a flak jacket, and a live grenade.
The IDF said it would refrain from initiating any operations> in the West Bank over the next 72 hours in order not to interfere with the Palestinian Authority elections scheduled for Wednesday, unless information is received of a "ticking bomb" or plans of an imminent attack.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, security forces arrested a female Palestinian in Jenin, who, according to security officials, was planning to carry out a suicide bomb attack in the coming days.
Northwest of Jenin, in Anin, two Islamic Jihad fugitives were arrested.
Troops came under fire a number of times, and engaged in intense clashes that erupted during the operation.
No one was wounded in any of the incidents, and a Kalashnikov rifle found in Arar's Ramallah home was confiscated.
