Israeli security forces have apprehended the Hamas terrorist cell responsible for the bombing of a number 12 bus in Jerusalem on April 18 which left 19 people injured, many of them seriously, it has been cleared for publication.
The six-man terror cell was based in the Palestinian Authority city of Bethlehem, just south of the Israeli capital, and was broken up in recent weeks in a joint operation involving the Shin Bet security service, IDF and Israel Police.
Under interrogation, the terrorists revealed that they planned additional attacks, including a series of car bombings and shootings.
They also admitted that two cell members were responsible for a shooting attack in 2015, but had failed to injure anyone in that attack.
The suicide bomber who carried out the April 18 bombing, 19-year-old Abed Al-Hamid Abu-Sarur, a resident of the Aidah neighborhood of Bethlehem, was fatally injured in the attack, and died two days later.
The Shin Bet has published the names of the other cell members. They are:
Mohammed Sami Abed Al-Hamid, 28, a resident of Beit Sahour near Bethlehem. He served time in an Israeli prison between 2004-2007 for involvement in Hamas terrorist attacks.
Under interrogation he revealed his role as the cell’s bomb-maker, having learned how to manufacture explosives by watching instructional videos online. Together with other Hamas operatives he worked to source bomb-making materials, and personally led the construction of bombs including the one used in the April attack, as well as a recruit willing to become a suicide bomber. He also worked to gather other weapons for future attacks.
Al-Hamid also admitted to interrogators his involvement in an October 2015 shooting attack, together with fellow cell member Mohammed Issa Mahmoud Albarabi, 28, of Bethelehem’s Gaza refugee camp.
The pair set out in a rental car along a road near the nearby Jewish town of Tekoa in Gush Etzion, and fired makeshift guns at an Israeli car heading towards Tekoa. Thankfully, the driver escaped unharmed.
Mohammed Majdi Mustafa El-Aza, a 21-year old resident of Beit Jalah near Bethlehem, operated under the guidance of Mohammed Sami and helped prepare the bomb used in the April attack. He also helped find candidates who expressed their willingness to carry out suicide bombings.
He and his mentor resolved to dispatch another suicide bomber following the successful April attack.
Ahmed Mohammed Mahmoud Masiah, 19, a resident of Aidah refugee camp in Bethlehem, transported the suicide bomber to the scene of the April attack.
30-year-old Ali Ahmed Mohammed Arouj, a resident of Bad Fluh village close to Tekoa, served time in an Israeli prison between 2004-2007 for his involvement in a terror cell which planned a bombing attack. He helped source bomb-making materials for the April attack, helped finance the cell’s activities and filmed the suicide bomber’s “martyrdom video.”
Saeed Asame Issa Harmas, 30, a resident of Bethlehem, also spent time in Israeli prisons for terrorist activities. He helped plan the April attack, and also helped write the bomber’s will and film his martyrdom video. Under interrogation he revealed to investigators a makeshift firearm he had hidden in his home, and implicated Mohammed Sami in the 2015 shooting.
Indictments against the terrorists will be served by the IDF Military Prosecution in the coming days.
