During a joint operation carried out by the IDF, General Security Services, and a special Border Police infiltration unit in the Jenin refugee camp, Mahmud Ibrahim Kasem Abid- also known as 'Abu Jahim'- was killed.
'Abu Jahim' was among the main directors and initiators of a suicide bombing scheduled for the upcoming Jewish holiday of Purim that was thwarted in central Israel two days ago.
Kassam Abid operated as one of the senior leaders of the Islamic Jihad infrastructure in northern Samaria, and was wanted for his operations as part of the terror organization. When he was arrested, Kassam Abid was armed with an M-16, and a number of explosive devices were found in his vehicle.
Security forces launched a pursuit on Tuesday (20/02/07) following information about a Palestinian citizen from the village of Jilabun who was known to have left Jenin with a bag of heavy explosives. The GSS and Israeli police department located the bag in the area of Rishon Letzion.
In his initial investigation the terrorist turned in information about his recruitment by 'Abu Jahim'. Furthermore, he received explosives to be used in the execution of a terror attack in the new Central Bus Station of Tel Aviv on the Jewish holiday of Purim - early next week
"There is certainly a direct connection between the arrest of the terrorist yesterday in Bat Yam and the elimination of the top terrorist in Jenin, and this is part of the ongoing struggle of the IDF, Border Police, and the GSS; we received intelligence information pertaining to the location of the terrorist as part of this continuous effort," said Menashe Brigade Commander, Colonel Hartzi Halevi, and added:
"A team of special infiltration forces arrived at the location and killed him at the heart of the city of Jenin. The terrorist was inside an armor-protected vehicle, realized he was being observed and attempted to threaten the IDF forces. I am glad our defense systems operated in this incident in order to thwart a terror attack in the center of the country; our mission is to carry out these activities in Jenin as best we can in order allow the residents of Tel Aviv and Bat Yam to live in quiet. IDF, GSS, and Border Police forces operate day and night in order to prevent and thwart terror activities and to achieve impressive and effective results as we achieve today."
The Brigade Commander also noted that "the Islamic Jihad terror organization receives a lot of support from terror operatives and collaborators in Damascus."
'Abu Jahim', born in 1986, a resident of the refugee camp in Jenin, has been a wanted Islamic Jihad operative for a long time. During the past two years, following many arrests of top Islamic Jihad infrastructure terrorists in northern Samaria and Tulkarm, 'Abu Jahim' has been marked a prime target by security services.
Abu Jahim is a known engineer in the Islamic Jihad infrastructure, and a scout recruiting potential suicide bombers. He acted as a high quality bomb constructer, and assisted tens of explosive attacks targeting IDF forces in Jenin.
(Communicated by Israel Security Services and other Sources)
