Israeli security forces have arrested nine members of an El Fatah cell on the West Bank held responsible for the July 4, 1975 explosion in Zion Square in downtown Jerusalem which killed 15 people and injured 77. It was disclosed today that the gang had been under surveillance for some time. But the arrests were made only last week after it became apparent that the ring-leader was not likely to return from the Arab country to which he had fled.
The leader was identified as one of three partners in an electrical appliance shop in Nablus where a refrigerator was converted into a lethal booby trap. The shop was raided yielding large quantities of explosives and sabotage material. The two partners, one of them the brother of the ring-leader, were arrested. Others arrested included suspects from Nablus and villagers from the Tulkarem and Ramallah regions. All reportedly confessed to roles in the 1975 outrage.
Security sources said high explosives and an electric timing device were concealed in the refrigerator’s walls and motor. The appliance was transported from Nablus to Jerusalem in a Volkswagen van and moved by handcart to a crowded sidewalk in Zion Square. It stood there for some 45 minutes before the bomb went off.
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