Navy commando unit kills "engineer" responsible for murder of 121 Israelis

An elite Israeli military unit killed Hamas's military commander in Samaria, Muhanad Taher, in a raid in Nablus Sunday night. Israeli officials said Taher and his men were responsible for the deaths of 121 Israelis, including the suicide bombing attack on a Jerusalem bus on June 18, in which 19 people were killed. Military sources said the army did not "liquidate" Taher, but killed him in a gun battle...(more)

Jul. 1, 2002
Hamas vows revenge for killing of bomb mastermind
By ARIEH O'SULLIVAN AND MARGOT DUDKEVITCH

Naval commandos shot dead Hamas master bomber Muhaned Taher and his deputy in a raid in Nablus yesterday, putting an end to a terrorist the security establishment blamed for 121 Israeli deaths.

Taher and his No. 2, Imad Draoza, were killed in a raid in the Masaken a-Shabiya neighborhood that involved armored personnel carriers, tanks, and combat engineers. The army said a third senior Hamas terrorist was seriously wounded in the raid and quickly evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in Israel.

Palestinians named the wounded man as Omer Masri and said he is the son of the owner of the house targeted in the raid.

Security sources said Taher, 26, and known as "the Engineer 4," was an expert bomb maker and supplied the deadly bomb used in the June 18 bus bombing near Jerusalem's Beit Safafa neighborhood that killed 19 people and wounded 70.

A graduate of an-Najah University in Nablus, Taher went underground in November 1999, but became the commander of the Hamas military wing, Izzadin Kassam, in Samaria. He was considered one of the top men on Israel's wanted list.

Reaching Taher showed the detailed intelligence the security forces were able to obtain, possibly from the interrogation of more than 40 top terrorists in Hebron since last week.

According to Palestinian sources, the IDF commandos surrounded a house belonging to an acquaintance of Taher yesterday evening. Witnesses said the army called on the occupants to get out of the two-story structure and then opened fire. There were conflicting reports on whether there was an exchange of gunfire.

After the shooting stopped, the army demolished the house, residents said.

Military sources said that Taher had not only planned the June 18 bus bombing, but made the bomb and recruited the suicide bomber.

Taher also prepared the powerful bomb used by the suicide bomber in the Seder night attack at the Park Hotel in Netanya. That bombing killed 29 people and wounded 60 and sparked Operation Defensive Shield.

In addition, military sources said Taher made and supplied the bomb that was used in the June 1, 2001 suicide bombing at Tel Aviv's Dolphinarium that killed 21 young people and wounded more than 80.

Security sources said Taher also had a hand in some of the most deadly Hamas bombings, including the attack last August on the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem. He was also said to have been indirectly involved in the December ambush on a bus near the settlement of Emanuel that killed 10 Israelis and the infiltration into the settlement of Eilon Moreh last March that killed four family members.

Taher was also named as a key planner, bomb maker, and recruiter in numerous other attacks, including in Kfar Saba, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Netanya, and Hadera. A total of 121 people were killed in attacks he helped plan and carry out since 1996.

Taher got his start with Hamas when he joined a terror cell set up by Mahmoud Abu Hunoud and Khalil Sharif in 1996. Hunoud was a master bomber and passed on his skills to Taher. Hunoud was killed last year when IAF helicopters fired eight rockets into the car he was travelling in.

Meanwhile, Hamas extremists promised Monday to avenge Israel's assassination of a senior West Bank bombmaker for the Islamic militant group who Israel said was responsible for the deaths of nearly 120 people.

Muhanid Taher, 26, was killed Sunday when an Israeli tank hit a house in the West Bank city of Nablus where he was living, striking a serious blow to Hamas.

The Israeli army said Taher was responsible for a June 18 bus attack in Jerusalem that killed 19 Israelis, and prompted Israel's latest West Bank military campaign that has taken over most major West Bank towns and cities. It said he also was behind a June 2001 suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv disco that killed 21 others, most of them teen-agers.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called Taher's killing "a very important operation" of self-defense for Israel.

"I speak about a murderer that committed the most terrible crimes, and our position is, and I am glad it is also the position of President Bush, that there is no compromise with terror." , Sharon said.

Sources within Hamas described Taher as a leading bombmaker in the group's military wing, Izzadine al-Kassam.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Ismail Abu Shanab called Taher's killing a "dirty crime" and, when asked if Hamas planned revenge, said: "Our people cannot forget the blood of their heroes and their people killed."

Hamas sources in the West Bank, speaking on condition of anonymity, said revenge for Taher's death is their top priority.

Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer brushed off the threats and said Israel would continue to do whatever is necessary to protect itself against suicide bombers.

"There is no lack of engineers," Ben-Eliezer told Israeli radio, using the Palestinian term for bombmakers.

Taher, he said, was involved in nearly every Hamas bombing in the past few months, building bombs, planning attacks and preparing bombers.

Imad Darwazeh, 37, was also killed in the Israeli strike. Palestinians say Darwazeh was not a known Hamas activist.

His brother, Salah Darwazeh, had been a member of Hamas and was killed in an Israeli missile strike in July 2001.

Hamas doesn't recognize the state of Israel and is responsible for many of the 71 suicide bombings that have killed more than 200 Israelis in the past 21 months.

Taher spent three years in a Palestinian prison but was released in September 2000, when the Palestinian uprising erupted after peace talks collapsed.

(With The Associated Press)
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Amen to your Bravo! The Muslims are not happy about it:

Hamas Vows to Avenge Israeli Killing of Its Leader

AP -- by Celean Jacobson -- Jul 1, 2002

JERUSALEM (AP) - Hamas extremists promised Monday to avenge Israel's assassination of a senior West Bank bombmaker with an Islamic militant group who Israel says was responsible for the deaths of nearly 120 people.
Mohaned Tahir, 26, was killed Sunday when an Israeli tank hit a house in the West Bank city of Nablus where he was living. His death struck a serious blow to the group Hamas.
The Israeli army said Tahir was responsible for a June 18 bus attack in Jerusalem that killed 19 Israelis and prompted Israel's latest West Bank military campaign that has taken over most major West Bank towns and cities. It said he also was behind a June 2001 suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv disco that killed 21 others, most of them teen-agers.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called Tahir's killing "a very important operation" of self-defense for Israel. "I speak about a murderer that committed the most terrible crimes, and our position is - and I am glad it is also the position of President Bush - that there is no compromise with terror." President Bush has supported Israel's right to defend itself, though Washington has said it opposes targeted killings*.
Sources within Hamas described Tahir as a leading bombmaker in the group's military wing, Izzadine al-Qassam.
In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Ismail Abu Shanab called Tahir's killing a "dirty crime" and, when asked if Hamas planned revenge, said: "Our people cannot forget the blood of their heroes and their people killed."
Hamas sources in the West Bank, speaking on condition of anonymity, said revenge for Tahir's death is their top priority.
Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer brushed off the threats and said Israel would continue to do whatever is necessary to protect itself against suicide bombers.
"There is no lack of engineers," Ben-Eliezer told Israeli radio, using the Palestinian term for bombmakers. Tahir, he said, was involved in nearly every Hamas bombing in the past few months - building bombs, planning attacks and preparing bombers.
Imad Darwazeh, 37, was also killed in the Israeli strike. Palestinians say Darwazeh was not a known Hamas activist. His brother, Salah Darwazeh, had been a member of Izzadine al-Qassam and was killed in an Israeli missile strike in July 2001.
Hamas doesn't recognize the state of Israel and is responsible for many of the 71 suicide bombings that have killed more than 200 Israelis in the past 21 months.
Tahir spent three years in a Palestinian prison but was released in September 2000, when the Palestinian uprising erupted after peace talks collapsed.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian security officials, residents and hospital officials in Rafah refugee camp said that before dawn Monday, Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers moved into a neighborhood, firing on houses. They said residents fled and Palestinian gunmen engaged soldiers in a firefight; three Palestinians were injured.
Bulldozers demolished seven houses and damaged two others before leaving, residents said. The army said it destroyed three abandoned buildings near the Gaza-Egypt border and that grenades and explosives were directed at its troops, who returned fire. One soldier was slightly injured, the army said.
Israeli troops also entered Salfit town south of Nablus overnight and arrested Anan Hashash, 28, a senior activist in the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, militia Palestinian security officials said. Soldiers were searching homes and detaining some residents, they said.
In an attempt to keep bombers out of Jerusalem, Israel began building a towering electronic fence Sunday that will protect three sides of the city against Palestinian attacks, Ben-Eliezer said during a visit to the southern edge of Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem fence, which will stretch 30 miles, is similar to one that will separate part of the West Bank from Israel farther to the northwest. Construction on that fence began earlier this month, part of a larger plan to physically separate Israel from the West Bank - a distance of about 215 miles.
Palestinians want east Jerusalem for a capital of a future state, and they oppose fencing off the city from the West Bank. Jerusalem has been hit harder than any other Israeli city during the latest Israeli-Palestinian violence, and security forces have set up barricades to keep West Bank Palestinians from reaching Jerusalem.
The army, meanwhile, kept a tight grip on seven major Palestinian cities and towns in the West Bank that it reoccupied nearly two weeks ago, carrying out arrest sweeps and hunting down militants. Sharon would not say when troops would pull back, reiterating he first requires "the full cessation of terror, hostility and incitement."
On Sunday, the army oversaw the evacuation of two tiny, unauthorized outposts for Jewish settlers in the southern West Bank, army radio reported. Ben-Eliezer said 11 outposts were dismantled. Israeli newspapers said all but two were uninhabited.
Ben-Eliezer said other illegal settlements would also be demolished in the coming weeks. Israeli officials said settlers were cooperating with the actions.
Israel has almost 150 government-authorized settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where about 210,000 Israelis live. Settler groups claim removing outposts would be a "reward" for Palestinian terrorism. Palestinians, who claim all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip for a future state, want all settlements evacuated.
AP-ES-07-01-02 0500EDT

* Truly incredible! That is a compromise with terror.

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