(Communicated by the IDF Spokesman)

Now released for publication: In a joint IDF and ISA operation on January 15, 2008, an IDF force arrested Ibrahim Sayid Ibrahim Salem, 23, a senior wanted PFLP operative, resident of the Balata refugee camp in Nablus.

During his investigation, Ibrahim Salem admitted to being involved in numerous shooting attacks, and to activating explosive devices and a car bomb against IDF forces in the Nablus region in October 2006.

Ibrahim Salem also confirmed that he was involved in a shooting attack against IDF forces on September 18, 2007 during which an IDF soldier, Staff Sergeant Ben-Zion Haneman, was killed. Several additional senior wanted PFLP operatives took part in the attack, among them: Jad Hamidan and Majdi Mabruk, who was recently arrested. Ibrahim Salim also revealed that he, along with other PFLP operatives, was involved in the ongoing production of explosives at a hidden location in the Ein Beit Ilma refugee camp.

The investigation of Ibrahim Salem along with the investigation of other PFLP and Hamas operatives confirmed that these explosives were used for the making of explosive devices for detonation against IDF forces, sometimes with the use of cellular technology.

Ibrahim Salem's investigation revealed that he was also involved in recruiting suicide bombers for the PFLP and the Hamas terrorist organizations in Nablus. In the end, these particular suicide bombings were not carried out.

Ibrahim Salem was also involved in the planning of a terror attack, which was organized by Nihad Shakirat, an operative from the Hamas terrorist organization. Shakirat, who planned to use a suicide bomber recruited by Salem, was killed during an IDF operation on Yom Kippur, 2007. The terrorist attack was prevented by a joint IDF and ISA operation.