TERROR AVERTED

Tanzim fugitive planned attack at Jerusalem cafe
Details of a combined Shin Bet and IDF operation launched in Bethlehem on August 5 thwarted attempts by Murad Ala'an, an Israeli identity card holder, and member of the Tanzim to launch a suicide bomb attack in the Filter cafe in Jerusalem where he used to work as a cook.

Murad's brother Ali, a Hamas fugitive involved in planning suicide bomb attacks in which scores of Israelis were murdered, was killed by security forces in March in the Judea district. Details released for publication on Wednesday revealed that Murad, 20, who lived in the Al Aida refugee camp next to Bethlehem, received an Israeli identity card when he lived with his mother in east Jerusalem.

Six months prior to his arrest he was recruited by Fadi Tsalahat, a member of the Palestinian security forces, and joined the Fatah Tanzim. Tsalahat told Ala'an that he, together with Nabil Ahmed Abayat, a senior Tanzim member, were searching for a suicide bomber to launch an attack in Jerusalem. Ala'an told investigators that at first he did not respond to Tsalahat's request but a week later, distressed by rumors that he collaborated with Israel he decided to go ahead.

Ala'an told Tsalahat that he would launch the attack in his work place at the Cafe Filter. He confessed to investigators that upon seeing the explosives belt that had been prepared for the attack he began to regret his agreement to carry out the attack. Tsalahat was arrested by security forces on August 6 a day after Ala'an's arrest

Security officials noted that during the month of August, security forces thwarted 15 terror attacks including three suicide bomb attacks and another suicide attack planned to be carried out by terrorists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Officials noted that 10 attacks stemmed from the Gaza area, and five from the West Bank.