A Yom Kippur suicide bomb attack was foiled in Tel Aviv and the apparent bomber (who worked in Tel Aviv) was arrested along with two others from his cell:
A four day long operation by Israeli security forces against a terror cell based in Shechem, in Samaria, ended with the successful prevention of a suicide terror attack Saturday morning. The operation culminated in a raid on an apartment in southern Tel Aviv by SHABAK (General Security Service) agents and YASAM (special reconnaissance unit) police, who found the suicide belt prepared by the terrorists and blew it up in a controlled fashion.
The operation was mounted by a brigade-sized IDF force in the neighborhood of Ein Beit Ilma in Shechem. The information that led to the location of the belt was acquired following the arrest of terrorist Mahdi Ashur, a resident of Shechem who is employed in Tel Aviv.
Security forces had been looking for the suicide belt from the start of the operation, early Tuesday morning. Paratroopers and Haruv battalion fighters arrested the would-be suicide bomber, his recruiter and the person who was to lead him to the intended target. The three were interrogated by the SHABAK but apparently did not lead the interrogators to the suicide belt. 36 other people suspected of belonging to the joint Hamas-PFLP terror cell were arrested as well. Staff Sgt. Ben-Zion Haneman was killed during this part of the operation, and his comrades killed the terrorist who had killed him.
Fortunately for the terrorists, they qualify under Olmert's strict catch-and-release program for terrorists, which requires a strict check of their hands. If no blood is found, they qualify for release after the emotions of the news of the latest near-miss attack die down.
Ninety more imprisoned terrorists who fit that profile were approved for release today:
The cabinet approved on Sunday morning the release of 90 Palestinian prisoners ahead of Ramadan.
As expected, all the Shas ministers, as well as Tourism Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich and Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman, opposed the release.
The proposal topped the cabinet agenda, and if the process goes ahead without any major legal challenges, the prisoners could be freed by Tuesday evening, a government spokeswoman said.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the cabinet that the prisoner release would not affect a deal for the release of kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Schalit. "This is a gesture that has been accepted in the past. The prisoners will be freed according to criteria that already exist," he said.
Olmert has declared his willingness to release a limited number of the roughly 11,000 Palestinian prisoners Israel holds, in an effort to shore up the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in his power struggle with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, who opposed the prisoner release, said that "[Israel] is working against terror, paying the price for terror, and nevertheless making a gesture towards the Palestinians."
Mofaz said that the step "showed weakness."
"[We] didn't get anything for releasing 256 prisoners [in July], and we won't get anything this time," he said....
Israel last released more than 250 prisoners in July. Olmert proposed the current release - timed to coincide with Ramadan - in his most recent meeting with Abbas two weeks ago.
Last week, Olmert told Kadima members that he intended to propose releasing prisoners who are not serving time for wounding or killing Israelis, who identify with Abbas's government and would renounce violence. "That is the only way to signal to Palestinian society that peacemaking and its culmination will yield results," he said.
