http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrategy-direct/secure/2005/1_04/1.asp Hizbullah agents caught plotting massive attacks in Israel TEL AVIV - Hizbullah has sought to carry out mass casualty attacks in Israel. Officials said Hizbullah, with guidance from Iran and Syria, has sought to direct major attacks in Israel that would not be traced to the Beirut-based insurgency group. The attacks were meant to replace Hizbullah rocket and missile attacks from southern Lebanon, which have sparked harsh Israeli retaliation. Israeli officials said Hizbullah has been recruiting Palestinians and other Arab nationals to carry out strikes that would ensure massive casualties in the Jewish state. Hizbullah has recruited from Palestinian refugee camps and cities in Jordan. "Hizbullah wants to carry out major strikes in Israel without leaving any fingerprints," a senior Israeli official said. "It is limited in operations along the Israeli-Lebanese border so the idea is to pay Palestinians and Israeli Arabs to carry out attacks." Israeli authorities have captured several Palestinians and Israeli Arabs recruited by Hizbullah to carry out major strikes, including suicide bombings. They included operatives ordered to blow up office towers or apartment buildings in the Tel Aviv area. In the latest case, a Jordanian national was arrested and accused of planning a Hizbullah-financed bombing of a packed commuter train in northern Israel. The Jordanian, identified as Mohammed Abu Jweid, age 25, was arrested in August 2004, but authorities only disclosed his arrest on Dec. 21. Officials said the Jordanian was assigned the task of recruiting Israeli Arabs and Palestinians from the West Bank for a series of attacks. Hizbullah encourages mass-casualty attacks by paying recruits bonuses in accordance with the number of Israelis killed. [A senior military intelligence officer told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Dec. 28, that 117 Israelis were killed in insurgency attacks in 2004. This marked a decrease from casualties in 2003.] Officials said the Syrian-born Abu Jweid entered the West Bank in 1998 and soon found a job in Israel. In 2002, Abu Jweid was recruited in Jordan by the Iranian-aligned Fatah Abu Mussa group and underwent explosives training in Syria. In 2003, Abu Jweid fought in Iraq against the invading U.S. forces and after the war returned to Jordan. In Jordan, Abu Jweid organized a group to attack Israeli assets, but failed to obtain money for training and equipment. Officials said Abu Jweid returned to Syria in December 2003 and obtained help from Hizbullah. A Hizbullah operative, identified only as Abu Mohammed, ordered him to recruit and train operatives among Israeli Arabs and Palestinians in the West Bank. In March 2004, Abu Jweid returned to Syria for additional training and met another Hizbullah agent. Officials said the two men discussed plans for a series of mass casualty attacks in Israel, including one on a commuter train in northern Israel. Officials said Abu Jweid offered to place a bomb on the tracks near the northern Israeli city of Nahariya in an attempt to derail a packed commuter train. Abu Jweid also proposed a series of attacks on Israeli police and civilians. Later, Abu Jweid entered the West Bank as part of an Israeli policy for Palestinians of family reunification. Several weeks later, officials said, Israeli authorities arrested Abu Jweid. Hizbullah was also said to advising Palestinian insurgency groups on ways to tunnel under the security fences that surround the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. The insurgency groups, particularly Hamas, have been successful in digging tunnels under Israeli military facilities in the Gaza Strip. In several cases, the tunnels were filled with explosives and detonated, destroying the military outposts. -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. 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