(Communicated by the IDF Spokesman)
 
Adnan Abiat, head of the Tanzim in Bethlehem and a senior terrorist responsible for the deaths of four Israeli civilians and four Israeli soldiers, was arrested today in Bethlehem in a joint operation of the Israel Security Agency and the IDF. Ratab Ali Hasan Nabhan, another Tanzim operative from Bethlehem, was also arrested in the operation.

Abiat and Ratab were arrested in the French Hospital compound in Bethlehem, in a structure adjacent to the hospital building. They had been hiding in the hospital compound for a long period of time, receiving assistance from members of the hospital staff and endangering hospital staff and patients. A weapons cache including a machine gun, two Kalashnikov rifles, three M-16 rifles and a Belgian .05 rifle, magazines and ammunition were discovered during the arrest.

Adnan Abiat was a high-profile Tanzim operative in Bethlehem since September 2000, recently appointed head of the Tanzim terror organization in Bethlehem. Abiat was involved in the activities of the terror cells in Bethlehem that planned and dispatched many terror attacks. Ratab was a dominant Tanzim operative in Bethlehem, involved in many shootings and attacks involving explosive charges. Both Abiat and Ratab were wanted since September 2000.

Terror attacks in which Abiat and Ratab were involved:

• October 22, 2000 - Shooting attack at an IDF force in Beit Sahur near Bethlehem resulting the death of an IDF soldier.
• October 17, 2000 - Shooting attack at the Gilo neighborhood in Jerusalem resulting in the serious injury of an IDF soldier.
• November 1, 2000 - Shooting attack at an IDF force on Route 60 resulting in the death of two IDF soldiers, and the injury of four others.
• June 14, 2001 - Shooting attack at an IDF car in the tunnel route resulting the death of an IDF officer.
• February 25, 2002 - Shooting attack at a civilian Israeli car at the Tekoa junction resulting the death of two Israeli civilians and the severe injury of a pregnant woman.
• March 2, 2002 - Shooting attack near Abidia, northwest of Bethlehem, resulting the death of an Israeli policeman.
• March 5, 2002 - Shooting attack on an Israeli civilian car at the Tunnel Route resulting the death of an Israeli woman.