AL-QAEDA IN WEST BANK

IDF: Al-Qaeda Forges West Bank Terror Link; Zarqawi Seeking Better Grip in Jordan - Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)

Global Jihad and al-Qaeda based in Jordan have stepped up their attempts to infiltrate Israel and were in close contact with Palestinian terror cells based in the West Bank, Head of IDF Central Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh said on Wednesday. "We recently caught several local terror cells that were in touch with the international global Jihad based in Jordan," Naveh said at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. "Hamas is gathering strength and a dangerous axis starting in Iran, continuing through Iraq and Jordan, is in the process of conception."

"I don't want to be a prophet but I am not sure there will be another king after King Abdullah." "Zarqawi and his men are trying to get a better grip in Jordan," Naveh continued. "They are in the midst of trying to create ideological and religious cells in Gaza and the West Bank and their next stage is to connect themselves to local terror cells." The Jordan Valley, Naveh said, was a "strategic security asset" that created a barrier between Israel and terrorism from around the world.

See also Al-Qaeda, Zarqawi, and Israel: Is There a New Jihadi Threat Destabilizing the Eastern Front? - Dore Gold and Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan D. Halevi (JCPA)