A major terrorist attack was thwarted this afternoon when IDF soldiers of the elite Egoz unit, covered and aided by combat helicopters, killed four terrorists just southeast of the Kinneret Sea. Thus ended an operation that began the night before when Jordan notified Israel that terrorist-cell tracks had been detected. Only later this afternoon was it learned that the cell originally numbered six, of which two were killed last night by Jordanian soldiers. The four remaining terrorists crossed the border into Israel, armed with Kalachnikov and Carabin rifles, knives, and grenades. Many army troops were brought into the area to search for them, while roads in the area were closed and all local school trips were canceled. After the terrorists were discovered and liquidated, in a gun battle that took a few hours, life in the southern Golan and northern Jordan Valley area returned to normal.

Several other terrorist attacks were thwarted in the past hours, although one attack cost the life of a young N’vei Tzuf woman; see below.

* In Gush Katif this evening, however, IDF forces detected three terrorists trying to place a bomb alongside the road to Netzer Hazani; the forces opened fire and killed the three.

* On Friday, yet another Fatah suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in an attempt to murder Jews, this time at the Salim checkpoint in northern Shomron. Two Israelis – an IDF officer and a soldier – sustained light injuries.

* Another major terrorist attack was thwarted last night when Palestinian terrorists armed with at least eight grenades were detected trying to infiltrate the Gaza community of Dugit. Soldiers shot and killed one of the would-be murderers.

IDF armored forces entered PLO-controlled area near the Egyptian border yesterday, searching for tunnels used by to smuggle weapons into Palestinian Authority areas. The Israeli unit came under fire and shot back, killing one of the Arab gunmen. Earlier in the same area, soldiers noticed Palestinian terrorists attempting to plant a bomb near their position; the Israelis fired at them, detonating the explosives. The terrorists managed to flee into PLO-controlled areas.

Arabs threw several grenades this afternoon at an IDF force near Rafiach, on the Israeli-Egyptian border; no one was hurt… Shots were fired early this evening at an Israeli car near Tul Karem; no one was hurt… Several other IDF positions throughout Yesha (Judea, Samaria, and Gaza) came under attack over the weekend; no one was hurt… Israeli intelligence continues to receive warnings of possible terrorist attacks…

This entry was posted on Monday, March 25th, 2002 and is filed under hotnews.