Israeli security forces Tuesday evening revealed they have smashed a huge terrorist cell that includes Palestinian Authority security officials. Israeli security forces Tuesday evening revealed they have smashed a huge terrorist cell that includes Palestinian Authority security officials. General Security Service (Shin Bet) officials said the 16-member gang in Bethlehem planned to smuggle explosives in an ambulance and attack the French Hill and ultra-orthodox Mea Shearim neighborhoods in Jerusalem. They also revealed a direct connection between the PA security forces, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.
Among those arrested were PA policemen, including the driver for the PLO police chief in Kalkilya near Kfar Saba. Four teenagers trained to be suicide bombers also were nabbed. Shin Bet also revealed that one of the terrorists was recruited in Yasser Arafat's Mukata compound by a PLO national security agent from Rafiah, near Gush Katif.
"This proves an escalation in the cynical exploitation by terrorists in using medical vehicles," Israeli officials said. They added that the arrests again show there is no separation between the PLO security establishment and terrorist organizations.