Female terror cell found in W. Bank

The women allegedly channeled funds to Islamic Jihad from Syria.

Islamic Jihad woman 298. (photo credit: AP)
Islamic Jihad woman 298.
(photo credit: AP)
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), uncovered a female terrorist network which operated in the West Bank in August and September, it was released for publication on Tuesday. The women, from the Islamic Jihad movement, were allegedly affiliated with two terror cells - in Kafr Nima and Kafr Ein - which were reportedly responsible for several shooting attacks in the Ramallah area and for setting up an explosives laboratory in the city.
  • The Region: Meet 'national Islamism' (column) One of the women arrested, Wadaha Fakha'a, 34, is suspected of transferring funds to one of the cells. Fakha'ah, who heads one of the Islamic Jihad offices in Ramallah, was arrested on August 3, and told her interrogators that she had received money from the organization's headquarters in Syria, which she then passed on to fund terror cells via two other female Islamic Jihad activists who acted as couriers. The suspected couriers, Havah Hamida'at and Palastin Zobah, both 21, worked in the Islamic Jihad offices in Ramallah that deals with the movement's prisoners. They were arrested on August 20, and confessed to the charges. In addition to the two couriers, Fakhah was aided by several Islamic Jihad operatives from Ramallah, who were used to channel funds from Syria to terrorist groups. Two of the operatives, Afat Halifa, 21, and Zahiyah Goanma, 40, were arrested by the IDF and the Shin Bet in September and told their interrogators that they had each received a commission of 100 dollars for all the money transfers they helped to perform. The funds were channeled to fund Islamic Jihad terrorist attacks. The sixth woman arrested was Ra'anah Hadir, 26, who allegedly led Islamic Jihad's student wing at Hebron University. Hadir is also suspected of being active in channeling money to terrorist groups and to families of suicide bombers.