The Israel Defense Force arrested 21 suspected Hamas and Islamic activists during an early morning raid last Friday at the Abu Dis College of Technology in eastern Jerusalem.
The raid was part of a security crackdown on suspected Islamic fundamentalist activists in the wake of the Jan. 22 bombing at Beit Lid Junction that killed 21 Israelis.
The Palestinian Authority issued a statement denouncing the raid, calling it “a violation of academic freedoms, the peace agreement and the agreement for early empowerment in the West Bank.”
Last fall, the Palestinian Authority assumed responsibility for Palestinian educational institutions in the West Bank.
In last Friday’s raid, dozens of soldiers entered the school dormitories in the early morning hours after climbing ladders and breaking through windows.
Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad are militantly opposed to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Four female students were slightly injured in the raid. The IDF said inflammatory material was found during searches of the dormitory rooms. The army acknowledged that there was some damage to school property and equipment during the course of the raid. IDF officials promised the administration that they would take responsibility for the damage.
Since the attack at Beit Lid, up to 100 Hamas supporters have been detained in raids on offices and homes in the Hebron, Nablus and Jenin areas of the West Bank.
According to security sources, almost 1,600 Islamic activists have been arrested since the Oct. 19 suicide bombing of a bus in the heart of Tel Aviv.
The raid at Abu Dis came after Deputy Defense Minister Mordechai Gur warned the Palestinian Authority that if it fails to step up its efforts to fight terrorism, Israel will reconsider its commitment to the security provisions of the Palestinian self-rule accord.
Appearing in the Knesset, Gur said Israel was not satisfied with the Palestinian response to Israeli requests to hand over suspected Palestinian terrorists. Israel Radio quoted Gur as saying that if Israeli leaders continue to feel that the Palestinians are failing to live up to their end of security arrangements, the government might reconsider what he called “the overall content of this part of the agreement.”
Gur’s comments came in the wake of a press leak last week of the contents of a classified report on Palestinian violations of its accord with Israel.
The opposition has frequently mentioned the existence of an official document detailing infringements by the Palestinian Authority. The report was prepared in December by the Judge Advocate-General’s Office. Among the violations cited are the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to hand over terrorists suspected of having murdered Israelis; its refusal to pass on results of investigations; the detaining of Israeli security personnel at checkposts; and the use of a weapon issued to the Palestinian police in the October terror attack at a pedestrian mall in Jerusalem.
In addition to rounding up Islamic fundamentalists, Israeli security officials closed down pro-Hamas and pro-Islamic Jihad institutions, including a mosque in Heborn and branches of the Palestinian League of Islamic Theologians.
Maj. Gen. Ilan Biran, the commander of the Israeli army’s central command, which includes the West Bank, told reporters: “We are fighting a war destruction against the Hamas and Islamic Jihad every day and every night.”
Meanwhile, the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee last week that since the Oct. 19 suicide bombing, Israeli security services have prevented five terrorist attacks from being carried out.
The security official also said the number of Palestinians willing to carry out suicide bomb attacks was growing.
In Gaza, Palestinian police detained Islamic Jihad activists, including the group’s spiritual leader, Sheik Abdallah al-Shami.
Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat said he would not tolerate terrorists planning attacks against Israel inside the autonomous areas.
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