The five – Samer Arbid, Walid Hanatsheh, Abed el-Razeq Faraj, Yzaen Majames and Kasem Shibli – were indicted in mid-December.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBThe place where the IED that killed Rina Shnerb exploded near Ein Bubin spring(photo credit: TPS)
The trial of a terrorist cell of five Palestinians allegedly involved in the murder of Rina Shnerb opened on Wednesday in the Judea Military Court at Camp Ofer.Shnerb was murdered on August 23.The five – Samer Arbid, Walid Hanatsheh, Abed el-Razeq Faraj, Yzaen Majames and Kasem Shibli – were indicted in mid-December.Arbid has been regularly in the news also since he almost died while being interrogated, and there is an ongoing Justice Ministry probe over whether his interrogators broke the law.“While the start of the trials is important, the most urgent step needed is for the minister of defense, Naftali Bennett, to order the demolition of the houses of the terrorists who murdered Rina Schnerb. The cell that murdered Rina was particularly dangerous, and steps need to be taken to deter other terrorists,” said Shnerb family lawyer Maurice Hirsch.In mid-December, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced that they had uncovered and dismantled a 50-person terrorist cell believed to have been behind a string of deadly attacks in the area.According to the Shin Bet’s mid-December statement, the investigation into the Dolev attack on Shnerb discovered that the cell planned to carry out additional attacks in the near future.As part of the investigation, approximately 50 Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine operatives, including senior members of the Palestinian terrorist group, were arrested. A large number of weapons were seized, including M-16s, Kalashnikovs, Uzis, Galil automatic rifles, pistols with silencers, ammunition and fertilizers to build bombs, as well as walkie-talkies and telescopic devices.Many of the weapons were found during a joint IDF and Israel Police raid of a home belonging to one of Arbid’s relatives.The members of the PFLP cell were arrested in the Ramallah area in recent months and were involved in shooting attacks near the settlement of Ofra in December 2017 and March 2019. There were no casualties in either attack.In October, the Shin Bet announced that it had arrested suspects behind the attack at Ein Bubin Spring near the settlement of Dolev in which Shnerb was killed and her father and brother were wounded.According to the Shin Bet mid-December statement, Arbid prepared the bomb and detonated it when he saw the Shnerb family approaching the spring.The Shin Bet said those arrested in October revealed the details of the preparations they made for the attack and how they implemented them.“Evidence suggests that intelligence gathering prior to the attack began several weeks before its realization,” the Shin Bet said, adding that the cell members visited the area of the spring on various occasions to outline the attack before they presented the plan to Arbid and received his approval.The night before the Dolev attack, the cell members made their way north of Ein Bubin Spring, armed with guns and explosives. Arbid left Shibli and Majames in the field along with the bomb, while he drove back toward Ramallah to leave the vehicle far from the scene of the attack.About an hour later, Hanatasheh, who funded the attack, drove Arbid back to where the other cell members were waiting and left. Members of the cell, led by Arbid, then walked for two hours toward the spring, where they placed the bomb near the entrance to the spring and went up to a spot overlooking the place.After several hours of waiting, the squad members noticed the Shnerb family approaching and passed the message to Arbid, who pressed the trigger, causing the powerful charge to explode as the family members walked by.Following the attack, the cell members escaped to Ramallah, where they split up.“Intelligence decryption and a strenuous investigation have thwarted attacks planned by the cell in the immediate future,” said a senior Shin Bet officer, adding that had the planned attacks been carried out, many lives would have been lost.The next hearing for the five was set for February 17.Anna Ahronheim contributed to this story.
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