March 26th, 2008

IDF SPOKESPERSON'S ANNOUNCEMENT
Terrorist Involved in "Park Hotel" Attack in Netanya in 2002 Arrested

Now released for publication: In a joint IDF and ISA arrest operation
overnight at the Bal'a village near Tulkarm, Omar Jabar, head of the Hamas
terror organization in Tulkarm area, was arrested. Jabar has been sought
since 2002 for his direct responsibility in carrying out the suicide attack
at the "Park Hotel" in Netanya in Passover, March 27th 2002, in which 30
Israeli civilians were killed and 143 were injured.

Jabar recruited the contact that dispatched the suicide bomber, introducing
him to the head of the Hamas in Tulkarm at the time, Abed Sayad. Sayad
admitted in his investigation that the connection with Jabar had already
begun in 1994, when the two were imprisoned together.

Since 2002, Jabar was directly involved in recruiting militants to Hamas
secrete terror cells and in the past year was involved in their combat
training.

In recent years, whilst hiding in the Tulkarm area villages, Jabar used his
own family members to transfer encrypted messages to Hamas terror
operatives, in order to lead the Hamas terror organization in Tulkarm,
finance his and other militants' terrorist activity and purchase weapons.

Following clashes between Hamas and Fatah in the Gaza Strip in January 2007,
Jabar worked to establish and finance a Hamas operational cell in Tulkarm.
He purchased weapons and recruited terror operatives, intended for the
establishment of a Hamas cell similar to operational cells active in Gaza.