MORE EFFECTIVE TERROR TECHNIQUES RESULT IN BLOODY 24 HOURS
by DEBKAfile 19 February 2002

HEADLINES

Israel-Palestinian Firefight Tuesday Morning in
Gush Katif, Gaza Strip
Six Palestinian Suicide Strikes in 24 Hours Ended
Monday Night in 4 Israelis Dead – 2 Soldiers,
One Policeman and One Woman:
Ahuva Amragim, 30, Mother of 2 from Ganei Tal,
Major Mor El-Raz, from Kiryat Ata, Police 1st Sgt . Ahmad Mazariv, 31,
from Beit Zarzir, 1st Sgt. Amir Mansouri, from Kiryat Arba
Another 6 Israelis Were Injured
Five Palestinian Terrorists Were Killed During Attacks,
One in Foiled Raid of Morag, in Gaza Strip
Israeli Jets and Helicopters Struck Palestinian Police Targets in
Rafah and Ramallah Monday Night, Gaza Strip Roads
Cut to Divide Gaza Strip into Three Segments
Israel PM Sharon Says Does Not Intend Changing
Counter-Terror Tactics
Meets Military and Security Chiefs Monday Night to Consider
New Methods of Fighting Palestinian Terror
Increasingly Beefed up by Lebanese Hizballah
DEBKAfile’s Counter-Terror Experts:
Central Palestinian Terror Command Applies Lessons from
Sunday’s Abortive Terror Missions near Hadera in
Maale Adumim-Jerusalem Highway Strike Monday
This Central Command Is Supported by
Extensive Intelligence-Logistic Network

CENTRAL PALESTINIAN TERROR COMMAND IMPROVES ITS EFFIENCY - UNCHECKED

"Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon brushed aside the widespread criticism of his handling of Palestinian terror as politically motivated, when he addressed a Likud party faction meeting Monday, February 17. He declared brusquely that he doesn’t need experts to advise him on how to combat terror.

As he spoke, the Palestinian terror machine struck again and again with swift hammer strokes over a widely dispersed area – from Israel’s coastal district north of Tel Aviv to the southern Gaza Strip and Jerusalem’s environs. In further evidence of a central terrorist command working round the clock, the Palestinians showed they were quick to learn the lessons of their failed attack on Sunday, when two armed terrorists, chased by police in the coastal area north of Tel Aviv, were killed before they could strike. Twenty-four hours later, on the Maale Adumim-Jerusalem highway, a Palestinian terrorist drove a booby-trapped car out of Abu Dis east of Jerusalem onto the Maale Adumim-Jerusalem highway. A police van at a roadblock gave chase. The Maale Adumim police had just received an anonymous tip that a booby-trapped car was on its way to a mass-casualty strike in downtown Jerusalem. This time, the Palestinian jumped out of the car and ran off slowly enough to get caught. As he was brought back to his car, he activated the detonator in his pocket, blowing the car up and killing the policeman and himself. A second policeman was injured. The operation was conceived from the start as a trap for the police.
One and a-half hours later, a lone Palestinian gunman ambushed an Israeli civilian vehicle on the Gaza Strip’s Kussufim road as it turned into Gush Katif. Shooting and tossing grenades, he killed three Israelis on the spot and left five injured, two gravely.

The bombings and shootings attacks began Monday morning and went on until night, programmed by sheer weight of numbers to inflict casualties.

Last week, seven Israelis died in terrorist attacks – 5 servicemen and women, 2 children. This week, Israeli police officers are clearly targeted. The Palestinians ability to unleash fresh waves of terror strikes every few hours, each clearly focused, indicates a large army of terrorists functioning efficiently in shooting, bombing and suicide squads, according to well-defined tactical directives from a higher command.

Hundreds more provide the logistical and intelligence support required for selecting a vast array of targets, assembling explosives and bomb belts, delivering assault weapons and providing vehicles.

This meticulously prepared terror offensive, employing an estimated 1000 fighting and support personnel, was launched on Wednesday, February 6, the day Sharon flew off to meet President George W. Bush at the White House. To activate this many operatives requires a chain of command, with centers and bases for its officers.
DEBKAfile’s military sources emphasize that, so far, Israel has never struck those bases or tackled the core of the terror machine. IDF military has been kept down to mostly defensive and partially preventive tactics. Even punitive assaults have been ineffectual for disabling the burgeoning Palestinian terrorist infrastructure.
Sharon will not still the criticism against him by calling a special session of the Israeli army’s general command for Monday night, February 18. As the Israeli death toll climbs hour by hour, the country cries out for military action to disrupt Palestinian terrorist command centers and stop the carnage.

The points Arafat’s terror machine is piling up will soon lead him to his goal of unseating yet another Israeli prime minister, a repeat of the methods he employed to remove Sharon’s predecessors. Even as a politician, the prime minister needs to issue the generals with their long-delayed orders to go into action.