Terrorist who planned attack in Tel Aviv - killed

A special force conducted an exchange of fire with a terrorist barricaded himself in Bil'in. The force surrounded the cave, the terrorist was shot and killed by the force.

In a joint operation of the IDF, ISA and Israel Police terrorist Mohammad Atzi, one of the planners of the attack on a bus in Tel Aviv a year ago, during Operation "Pillar of Cloud", was killed in Bil'in on Tuesday morning.

Givati forces arrived to stop the terrorist, about whom intelligence information was gathered for months. During the operation, the terrorist escaped and began to open fire while barricading himself up in a cave. The forces responded quickly and precisely and hit him, in an exchange of gunfire that also demanded the use grenades and other means. The Benjamin division, responsible for the sector, questioning continues at the scene to extract evidence and intelligence information.

Muhammad A'atzi, 28, from Beit Lakia, was imprisoned several times in the past due to military operations in Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He was one of the planners of the attack in Tel Aviv on 7th Kislev last year, who traveled near the Kirya in Tel Aviv, and as a result 29 civilians were injured. Since then Aatzi behaved as a wanted. Following efforts the ISA managed to locate the hideout.

Simultaneously two assistants of A'atzi were arrested: Muhammad Ibrahim Sais, 30 of Binyamin, was jailed in the past for the Islamic Jihad military operations and Abdullah Suleiman Abu Atzi, 22, from Naama village, was jailed in the past under similar circumstances. They were interrogated by the ISA.

Izz al - Din al - Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced that it is taking responsibility for the attack on the bus in Tel Aviv in November 2012.

Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon visited Hebron and referred to the recent incidents in Judea and Samaria: "Last month there was a series of six attacks, some of which were completely clear for nationalistic reasons and others, even if they began as criminal events, we treat them as nationalist." Ya'alon added that "This is a contagious wave of events and we will act against them with determination. However, there are no signs of a popular uprising, or a third intifada in terms of motivation or organizations but will be ready for any escalation which may be."

Interior Committee chairman MK Miri Regev called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze the release of security prisoners with the growing terrorism in Judea and Samaria. She writes in her letter to the Prime Minister that "We are currently witnessing an upsurge in terrorist acts by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Only last month three Israeli civilians including two soldiers and a civilian resident of the Jordan Valley, paid with their lives. Even then, as today, I thought that the considerations underlying the decision to release prisoners with heavy blood on their hands, as a gesture of good will, even before Israel received any political commitment, is a serious mistake and fundamentally wrong.

"In my opinion it is a show of weakness, which can damage the deterrent power of the State of Israel and invite more terror in the form of kidnappings of soldiers and civilians. In the Middle East, such gestures are perceived as a weakness unfortunately and not strength ... In my humble opinion, the Prime Minister, the State of Israel gave a hand - and received terrorist in response. It follows that it will be wise at this time to stop any future release of murderers especially those with blood on their hands. There is no place to condition negotiations with releasing terrorists."

Against this background, tomorrow morning, Wednesday the 23.10.13 at 9:00 am, the Interior Committee will discuss the criteria for the release of security prisoners.

A website affiliated with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon reports that between 15 and 20 IDF soldiers crossed the electronic fence near the border with Lebanon. According to the report, the soldiers are performing scans parallel to the deployment of the Lebanese army. It was further reported that soldiers are accompanied by sniffer dogs.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!