IDF, Shin Bet nab Jihad leader in Jenin

Reveal that Al Aksa operative suspected of killing Israeli arrested in Ramallah.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
pal arrested 298 ap (photo credit: AP)
pal arrested 298 ap
(photo credit: AP)
The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) arrested Mahmoud Said Saliman Sa'adi, head of the Islamic Jihad in Jenin, during an overnight operation in the West Bank town, it was released for publication on Tuesday afternoon. During searches of the building where Sa'adi was hiding, troops found a pistol and two matching magazines. The IDF said that Sa'adi had been in contact with the Islamic Jihad command in Syria and had transferred funds to the Islamic Jihad infrastructure in the West Bank. These funds were used directly to carry out terror attacks. Sa'adi was arrested for his activity in the Islamic Jihad organization in 2002 and was jailed in Israel until May 2005. After his release, Sa'adi returned to operate in the organization and was later appointed to head the Islamic Jihad in the Jenin area. It was also released for publication on Tuesday that the IDF and Shin Bet had arrested Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades operative Muhammed Za'idi in Ramallah. Za'idi, who was arrested in November, is suspected of killing Israeli citizen Marik Gabrielov in 2000. Za'idi allegedly shot Gabrielov to death in his car and then torched the vehicle in an attempt to destroy the evidence. Israel Radio reported that Za'idi told his interrogators that he had met with Gabrielov in Ramallah in order to buy his car. Earlier Tuesday, IDF troops shot a Palestinian after they found him and an accomplice trying to damage the Gaza-Israel border fence in the northern Gaza Strip. The army said that the soldiers had called on the two to move away from the fence and then fired warning shots in the air. When the Palestinians continued to damage the fence, the troops fired at the men's lower bodies and identified hitting one of them in the legs, the army said. The condition of the man was unknown, and the two Palestinians fled the scene following the incident. In other arrest operations throughout the West Bank overnight Monday, IDF soldiers caught five Palestinian fugitives.