Busted: Jihad Cell Planned Joseph's Tomb Attack

By Uzi Baruch

Shin Bet nabs Islamic Jihad ring that planned to use bombs and gunfire against Jews at Samaria holy site.

It has been cleared for publication that the Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet), with assistance from the IDF, arrested a four-man terror cell that planned to attack Jews who enter the Joseph's Tomb area in Shechem.

The terrorists are from Tulkarm, Shechem, and Jenin, and belong to the Islamic Jihad group. They planned to plant bombs and use automatic gunfire against the devout Jews who frequent the Tomb on their own initiative, without coordinating the visits with the IDF.

The cell was directed from Gaza by Mohammed Darwish, whose job it was to arm the cell in order to advance the terror attack.

ISA interrogators found that members of the cell operated in a compartmentalized manner, without knowledge of each other, but each had a specific role: one supplied weapons, another collected intelligence, and others were to carry out the attack.

The suspects under arrest are Nasim Damiri, 30, of Tulkarm; his cousin Mohammed Damiri, 23, of tulkarm; Yasser Tzarawi, 25, of Shechem and Adwan Nizal, 24, of Kabatya. The terrorists from Tulkarm were to carry out the attck, and the others were to provide them with weapons, instructions and a place to sleep in Shechem.

Mohammed Damiri admitted that he had carried out observation missions to collect information about the Jews who frequesnt the site, for the purpose of carrying out an attack. Tzarawi admitted that he agreed to teach Nasim Damiri how to prepare a gasoline bomb, and to put him up in Shechem overnight. Nizal admitted that Darwish had asked him to supply the cell with weapons.
Samaria Regional Council Head Yossi Dagan reacted to the news and said that it was “further proof of the importance of bringing the IDF presence back to Joseph's Tomb, as was agreed even in the Oslo Accords. Joseph's Tomb belongs to the entire Nation of Israel and we are glad to be emissaries of the Nation of Israel in this sacred spot. We thank the security forces for the important and determined action, and hope to return soon to Joseph's Tomb.”