Tel Aviv, 31 Oct. (AKI) - Israeli police and security forces were on high alert Monday for possible Palestinian terror attempts as Muslims mark the first anniversary of the death of former Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat [11 November for the Western calendar], and to avenge the killing on Sunday of an Islamic Jihad commander wanted for masterminding last week's deadly suicide bombing in Hadera. | It's been a year already? Time sure flys when you're having fun |
A week of violence has now left 12 Palestinians dead. Nine Palestinians died in Israeli air strikes on Thursday and Friday which the army said were targeting Palestinian militants. Israeli defence minister Shaul Mofaz has said Israel's strikes were aimed at wiping out Islamic Jihad's ability to carry out suicide bombings. Security officials have said that they are also on their guard against expected terror attempts on 11 November, the first anniversary of Arafat's death in a French hospital.
| I'll have to remember to send a card; "Dear, Yasser. Glad you're still dead. Say Hi to Adolph." |
The Qabatiyah clash and the Palestinian rocket attacks were the latest in a series of incidents in which Palestinians have fired Qassams and carried out suicide bombings, and the IDF has raided and shelled suspected Jihad and Hamas strongholds and targeted commanders of armed squads. The army had entered the town south of Jenin to hunt down members of the Islamic Jihad cell responsible for the Hadera suicide bombing last week, and Palestinian sources said that one of the men killed was Jihad Awidat, the Jihad operative who dispatched 20 year old suicide bomber, Hassan Abu Zaid, to Hadera.