Israel’s General Security Service, known as the Shin Bet, announced Monday that it had arrested members of a large cell of Islamic Jihad thought to be responsible for the roadside bomb that killed an Israeli woman on Oct. 16.
Yehudit Ostern, 57, burned to death and her family was injured jumping from their van, when the device exploded near the West Bank settlement of Mattityahu, just east of the pre-1967 Israeli border.
The family was returning to Matityahu from the settlement of Dolev, where Ostern’s daughter lives.
Security sources said the members of the cell had attempted several other attacks before that one.
This particular attack was especially alarming for its technical sophistication, which included a trip wire that triggered the bomb. It was also daring, taking place near Ben-Gurion Airport and near the towns of Modi’in and Re’ut.
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