Based on IDF Spokesperson Reports - Tuesday 27/02/2007 15:30
The Israel Defense Forces are continuing their efforts to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure in Shchem (Nablus) which has shown a growing rate of activity recently.
The operation, codenamed "Warm Winter," has so far yielded the discovery of at least three bomb manufacturing facilities and a warehouse used to manufacture explosive devices.
Terrorists have attacked the forces by hurling Molotov cocktails and shooting at the soldiers near the scene of the laboratories. One soldier was lightly injured.
"In recent weeks, we received information about extensive terrorist activity in Shchem (Nablus)," said Brigadier-General Yaron Golan, Commander of the IDF's Judea and Samaria Division,. "In just the last six months, nine explosive devices which were manufactured in this city were aimed at Israeli citizens. In 2006, 117 Palestinian youths were arrested after we had received information stating that they had intended to infiltrate Israeli territory and blow themselves up in our cities. This is a huge number, and it represents a significant majority of the 190 total detainees that were captured by the IDF over the course of last year."
The youths who were apprehended in Shchem belong to various terrorist organizations, among them the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the PLO's Fatah Tanzim, and the "Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian."
"There's no doubt that as long as the operation continues, we will expose more weapons, bomb labs, and various parts of the terrorist infrastructure of the terrorist groups in the city. Our goal is to radically diminish the terrorists' capability to execute attacks from this area upon Israeli citizens," Brigadier-General Golan said.
The data which Brigadier-General Golan submitted along with intelligence that has been received recently compelled the authorities to initiate what is described as "a concentrated effort to thwart the widespread terrorist infrastructure in the city."
Brigadier-General Golan stated that the duration of the operation will be determined by periodic assessments of the situation, although it is anticipated to last a number of days. The IDF has imposed a curfew in the Kasbah region, near the Old City. The curfew's purpose is to prevent harm from coming to local residents who live nearby and who not involved in terrorist activities. It will remain in effect as long as IDF troops are operating in the area.
