Israeli officials have learned new details about the organization of the Hamas movement as a result of the arrest of two Palestinian Americans accused of attempting to revitalize and pump funds into the Islamic fundamentalist organization.
The arrest of the two American citizens appears to confirm reports that the Hamas network in the administered territories, including cells dedicated to attacks on Israeli soldiers, is being directed by leaders in the United States and Britain.
The coordination of Hamas activities in the territories via a headquarters in Arlington, Va., is being compared by Israeli military sources to the direction of Palestine Liberation Organization activists by the PLO leadership in Tunis.
In New York, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations called on the FBI and the Senate and House Intelligence Committees to launch a “wide-ranging probe” of the links between Hamas terrorists in the administered territories and their supporters in the United States.
The conference urged the FBI to “bring to justice those who are using the United States as a base for financing and planning the tactics and strategy of Hamas in the Middle East.”
The arrested men, Mohammed Abdul Hamid Salah, 39 and known as Abu Ahmed, and Joma Hilmi Jarad, 36 and known as Abu Anas, came here in mid-January from the United States, allegedly with the intention of distributing $650,000 to local activists. Abu Ahmed was found to be in possession of $100,000 in cash.
Their mission was to rehabilitate the movement after it had suffered two major blows in December: the arrest of some 1,000 fundamentalists and the subsequent temporary expulsion to southern Lebanon of 415 activists.
The Israeli actions brought the cash flow to Hamas operations to a trickle and disrupted the communication channels between local Hamas chapters and command headquarters abroad.
FOUR BASES IN THE TERRITORIES
In addition, the movement’s military wing reportedly had suffered setbacks from stepped-up Israeli intelligence operations. But the group proved in an attack this past weekend leaving two Israeli soldiers dead that its power has not been crushed altogether.
With their funds, Abu Ahmed and Abu Anas allegedly also hoped to recruit more Palestinian youth to the military wings of the movement.
An initial investigation of the two men indicates they met in London two years ago, introduced by Mohammad Kazem Sawallha, 32. Sawallha was Hamas commander in the territories until two years ago.
This year’s visit here was not the first by the men. According to local sources, they had come here last August and supplied local armed cells with funds. These groups were later responsible for armed attacks on soldiers in the Hebron region of the West Bank.
Hamas operates in the territories from four bases: in Nablus, Jerusalem, Hebron and Gaza. According to military sources, each base operates independently and is linked directly to head-quarters in the West, as well as to branches in Iran, Sudan and Syria.
In the United States, the Virginia leadership is reportedly headed by Dr. Moussa Abdul Marzouk, among other figures. The U.S. branch of Hamas also is involved in such public activities as presenting lectures, publishing books and pamphlets, and various other religious and cultural pursuits.
In New York, the Conference of Presidents issued a statement saying that “as long as Hamas is permitted to carry out its nefarious schemes with impunity on our shores,” there will be “no peace for Israel, for moderate Arabs or for America itself.”
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