March 26th, 2006
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Attributed to "security sources" [Distribuited by the IDF Spokesperson's
Office]

Terror attack thwarted and two terrorists arrested as Islamic Jihad
increases its activity against Israel

On March 7th 2006, security forces at the Erez crossing arrested Samih
Haddad, an Islamic Jihad terrorist who intended to carry out a terror attack
inside Israel. Six days earlier, security forces arrested Islamic Jihad
terrorist Ihab Tity, who was sent to develop the organization's terror
infrastructure in the West Bank in order to carry out attacks against Israel

On March 7th 2006, ISA forces arrested Samih Maher Salameh Haddad, 21, a
resident of the Gaza Strip. Haddad arrived at the Erez crossing with false
medical documents with which he had managed to obtain an entry permit into
Israel. During his questioning Haddad admitted to being a member of the
Islamic Jihad terror organization. Haddad had undergone training in the
organization and had participated in projectile rocket attacks against
Israel.

In January of 2006, Haddad was informed by his operators that they intended
to smuggle him into Israel through Erez with false medical documents, which
stated that Haddad was in need of urgent medical treatment in Israel. Once
inside Israel, Haddad would receive an automatic weapon which he would use
to carry out a terror attack against Israeli civilians. Haddad had attempted
to smuggle into Israel several months earlier by infiltrating the
Israeli-Egyptian border, but had not succeeded.

On March 7th 2006, Haddad was given the forged documents by his operators
and met with Mahjed Harazin, head of Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, who
gave him his blessing to carry out the terror attack. Haddad was then taken
to the Erez security crossing, and was arrested by Israeli security forces
while attempting to pass through.

This thwarted attack is an example of a recent upsurge in Islamic Jihad's
efforts to carry out attacks against Israel. As part of this effort Islamic
Jihad has also
accelerated the development of terror cells in the West Bank:

On March 1st 2006, security forces arrested Ihab Tity, an Islamic Jihad
terrorist and explosives instructor who had been sent to the West Bank on
February 2006 in order to establish a terror infrastructure which would
carry out attacks against Israel. Tity, 25, a resident of Al Aroub (in the
Hebron region), moved to the Gaza Strip in the year 2000 and enrolled in a
university there. In 2004 Tity was drafted to the Islamic Jihad, and in 2005
underwent several training sessions aimed to qualify him as an explosives
instructor. During this training period Tity was instructed on explosives
production and the construction of detonators, explosive devices, explosive
belts and methods of use. Tity was also trained in the use of automatic
weapons and anti-tank missiles.

Upon finishing his training in February 2006, Tity was instructed by his
operators to return to the West Bank in order to establish an Islamic Jihad
terror infrastructure, consisting of several sub-cells, which would carry
out terror attacks against Israeli targets- primarily military targets.
These attacks would be funded by the Islamic Jihad terror infrastructure in
the Gaza Strip, and would possibly be conducted in cooperation with other
organizations.

Tity was instructed to build an explosives lab and to draft new recruits who
would be trained in the production of explosives, bombs and explosive belts.
Among the attacks planned by the new infrastructure were suicide bombings,
the detonation of roadside bombs against IDF forces, shooting attacks
against civilian and military vehicles, and possibly the kidnapping of
soldiers or civilians in order to negotiate the release of Palestinian
prisoners held by Israel (for this Tity's operators suggested that he enlist
a female collaborator to seduce and kidnap the designated target, or that he
alternatively set up a false meeting with an Israeli drug dealer in order to
kidnap him). In addition, the infrastructure was to collect information on
security measures-specifically security vehicles-used to protect Israeli
communities in the West Bank.

Tity arrived in the West Bank near the end of February 2006. By the time of
his arrest on March 1st, he had already managed to mark a number of targets
for terror attacks, among them IDF vehicles near Al Aroub and a bus stop
near Gush Etzion, and had also collected information on security measures in
a nearby community.

As part of its efforts to increase terror activity against Israel, Islamic
Jihad has been implementing three major methods in order to smuggle
terrorists into Israel:

1. Exploitation of Israel's humanitarian policy on medical cases:

This method of operation is exemplified in the case of Samih Haddad which is
detailed above. The past few years have shown a major increase in attempts
to smuggle terrorists into Israel in the cover of patients in need of
medical treatment. Another example of this is the incident of Wafa Bas, who
was arrested in the Erez crossing on June 2005 while wearing an explosive
belt. Bas, carrying legitimate medical documents, was scheduled for a
medical examination in an Israeli hospital. Under the pretense of a genuine
need, Bas, who had been recruited by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
organization, was planning to execute a suicide bombing at the hospital
which had treated her.

2. Infiltration into Israel through Egypt:

Since October 2000, and at a highly increased rate following the IDF's
pullout from the Gaza Strip, there have been many efforts by all terrorist
groups in the Gaza Strip, among them Islamic Jihad, to smuggle terrorists
into Israel by sending them over the Gaza-Egypt border and then over the
Israeli-Egyptian border, while exploiting the lack of a contiguous physical
obstacle along this border. On the 8th of February, a 17 year old
Palestinian terrorist carrying an explosive belt, and an additional
collaborator assigned to drive him to the site of the planned attack, both
of them Islamic Jihad terrorists, were arrested after trying to infiltrate
Israel via Egypt. Their plan was to carry out a suicide bombing in the city
of Jerusalem.

As previously mentioned, Samih Haddad had also attempted to enter Israel in
this method.

3. Exploitation of Israel's policy towards residents of the West Bank
wishing to leave the Gaza Strip:

This method of operation is exemplified in the case of Ihab Tity. Tity,
originally of the West Bank, came to the Gaza Strip for the purpose of
studies and rather easily received authorization to return to the West bank
thanks to his West Bank ID. Islamic Jihad took advantage of Tity's special
status in order to train him and send him to the West Bank to establish an
Islamic Jihad terror infrastructure there.

An additional example is the arrest of Mahmad Bahitzi in March 2005.
Bahitzi, a Hamas terrorist and a resident of the Gaza Strip, planned to
carry out a suicide bombing after having left the Gaza Strip in the cover of
a potential kidney donor. Because of these medical considerations, and in
light of being registered as a resident of Kalandiya, Bahitzi received an
entry permit.