A security dragnet in the Gaza Strip has resulted in the arrests of some 70 local residents on suspicion of belonging to or organizing terrorist cells among them the son of Dr. Haider Abdul-Shafi, one of two pro-PLO Palestinian leaders with whom Defense Minister Moshe Dayan met recently to “exchange views.” An Army spokesman confirmed that Tarik Haider el-Shafi, 19 was detained for alleged membership in El Fatah, the terrorist arm of the PLO. He said more arrests are expected.
Two of the cells – one in Gaza and the other in Khan Yunis – were part of EI Fatah. A third was associated with the Syrian-backed Al Saiqa terrorist group and a fourth with George Habash’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the security sources said.
They said the exposure of these cells prevented several terrorist acts. In one case, explosive charges were found, two of them primed for detonation. The Gaza cells confessed to planting an explosive charge in the Israel Discount Bank branch office in Gaza. The Al Saiqa members admitted at least two acts of terror, the security sources said. In an unrelated development, police discovered and dismantled a large bomb discovered in the Ashkelon market place last Thursday afternoon.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
