(Communicated by the IDF Spokesman)
Early Saturday morning (25 August), at approximately 7 AM, two armed terrorists wearing uniforms, concealed by heavy fog, infiltrated into Israeli territory. The terrorists opened fire and hurled grenades at the District Coordination Office in Gaza, situated near the Erez crossing. A soldier manning the crossing was lightly wounded, and returned fire in the direction of the terrorists, who were advancing towards Yad Mordechai and Kibbutz Erez. A Golani Brigade force was immediately mobilized and, upon arrival, killed the two terrorists. The forces uncovered weapons on the bodies of the terrorists, including explosives, grenades, and Kalashnikov assault rifles. During the firefight, an IDF soldier was lightly wounded, and later evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment.
"The instant we realized that an infiltration had taken place, we mobilized the military, the police, and security forces which were located in communities in the area," said Colonel Moni Katz, the commander of Northern Brigade in the Gaza Division, after the incident. "We successfully neutralized the region. One of the forces prevented the advancement of the terrorists and engaged them. We immediately surrounded them, attacked them, and the event concluded with the deaths of both terrorists."
Colonel Katz added: "From our current knowledge, these terrorists belong to the Popular Resistance Committees and to the Fatah organizations. They were fully prepared with uniforms, vests, weapons, grenades, and explosives, which they intended to use against the forces pursuing them. I think that this was a very successfully operation, carried out successfully by all forces in the area within a short time span. The operation succeeded in isolating the terrorists and ending the incident with the best possible outcome."
Oct 10: Now released for publication: Two terrorists involved in the August 25th thwarted attack in Netiv Ha'asara were arrested later that day
On August 25, 2007, a terrorist attack was thwarted when two terrorists were killed after infiltrating Israel in heavy fog and reaching the outskirts of the community of Netiv Ha'asara.
In a joint IDF and ISA activity later that day, IDF forces arrested two other terrorists who lead the two up to the point of the security fence in the Erez Crossing area in the northern Gaza Strip.
In the infiltration, the terrorists used a ladder made of ropes which was prepared in advance. As they arrived at the Erez Crossing, they opened fire and hurled hand grenades at IDF soldiers. In an ensuing chase the terrorists were killed by the IDF force. Two soldiers were lightly wounded.
The two terrorists that were killed were Hader Ukal, 21, and Mohamed Zaker, 20. Weaponry was uncovered on their persons by the force, and included explosive devices, fragmentation grenades, an AK-47 assault rifle and two military vests.
The other terrorists, who were arrested afterwards, are Abdel El Rahman Makadmeh, 21, and Mamduh Tanani, 20, members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization in the Gaza Strip. The two confessed in an ISA investigation of their involvement in the infiltration act, including the assistance in leaping over the security fence using the prepared ladder. They added that they took part in preliminary patrols and observations along the Gaza Strip security fence, in order to locate the best infiltration area.
In addition, according to the investigation, the attack was planned in coordination of several organizations and was headed by Rafeh Shahin, 32, an Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades operative. Shahin was assisted by Na'eem Abu El Ful, 48, a Popular Resistance Committees operative and Ibrahim Aelbeh, 43, a Democratic Front operative.
Mamduh Tanani told in his investigation that he was recruited to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in 2005. Primarily he went through instructions of light weapons and took part in field "security missions" against IDF forces. Tanani also confessed that during 2006 he underwent training by Hamas for the purpose of his participation in a future suicide bombing attempt, which eventually did not take place. He was recruited to Hamas a month prior to his arrest. He also admitted to be involved in launching rockets into Israel.
Abdel El Rahman Makadmeh, 21, originally from Dubai, was also recruited to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in 2005. Initially he had served as an armed "guard" and was planting explosive devices meant to be activated against IDF troops. Makadmeh admitted that he had been operating for the preparation of the aforementioned terror attack for nearly a year. He also operated to recruit a suicide bomber for his commander, Rafae Shahin. Additionally, he admitted of his involvement in planning an attack on an IDF tank.