Palestinian woman patient attempts attack on Israeli hospital treating her 21 year-old Wafaa Samar Ibrahim Bass, a resident of the Jabaliya camp in North Gaza, was arrested at the Erez crossing point on her way into Israel on 20 June 2005, carrying a concealed explosives belt. She aroused the suspicion of Israeli soldiers, and when they discovered the belt on her, she tried to detonate it. Wafaa Bass had first been admitted to Israel’s Soroka hospital in December 2004 for treatment for burns she received as a result of a gas tank explosion. She was carrying medical documents authorising her entry to Israel to receive further treatment, and used those documents to try to get through the crossing. She told questioners after her arrest that she planned a suicide attack on a “crowded Israeli hospital”, and that she had been despatched by the Fatah Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade (Source: IDF statement, 20 June 2005). Our comment: This foiled attack marks a new low in cynicism and depravity. Palestinian teenage suicide bomb gang arrested Israeli security forces have arrested several teenagers in Nablus who had been recruited to carry out suicide attacks into Israel by the Fatah Tanzim, operating in conjunction with Hizbollah. The boys were aged 15, 15 and 16. One had approached the Tanzim in Nablus, offering to carry out an attack like his “martyred” friend who had killed 3 and injured 40 in a crowded Tel-Aviv market in November 2004. Another admitted that he had already been filmed in Nablus reading his statement to carry out a suicide attack (source: IDF statement, 15 June 2005). Our comment: Many Palestinian teenagers are
being recruited to carry out suicide missions. What happened
to the UN-protected ‘rights of the child’? Islamic Jihad attempt double-suicide attack in Jerusalem suburb Israeli forces arrested five members of a Bethlehem-based cell of the Islamic Jihad, who had been in the final stages of planning a double suicide attack in Jerusalem. Cell members made three attempts to enter Jerusalem, each of which was thwarted at Israeli checkpoints. This group had previously organised the suicide attack on a Tel-Aviv nightclub in February 2005. Under questioning, members of the group admitted that their targets were Jerusalem’s Ramot neighbourhood, and a coffee house, bus or synagogue in the centre of Jerusalem (Source: Jerusalem Post 1 June 2005). Our comment: Islamic Jihad has escalated its activities in recent months, and was recently declared the ‘top terrorist threat’ to Israeli civilians. Regrettably, it is in competition with several Palestinian groups for this dubious accolade. Our conclusion: The “lull” in Palestinian attacks is an illusion. Hamas has temporarily reduced attacks (though states openly that it intends to resume after Israel disengages from Gaza). Islamic Jihad, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and the Tanzim, continue to attempt mass killings of Israeli civilians.
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