(Communicated by the GPO)

Omar Abdallah Amr Abu Sita, born in 1972, a resident of the Khan Yunis refugee camp, commander of the Abu Rish faction of Fatah in the Gaza Strip, and his assistant, Zaki Abu Zarka, were killed today (Thursday), 29.7.04, in an action by security forces in the southern Gaza Strip.

Since the 1990’s, Abu Sita has been involved in several deadly terrorist attacks in the Gaza Strip, including:

* The 1993 murder of his employer, Uri Megidish;
* The November 2000 bomb murder of an Israeli officer at the DCO;
* The January 2001 murder of Rafiah Yam resident Ron Tzalah;
* The November 2002 attack at Pe’at Sadeh, in which two Israelis were murdered.

During the current round of Palestinian violence, several attempted terrorist attacks, on Israeli territory, by Abu Sita, have been foiled.

In recent years, Abu Sita had been in close contact with Hizbullah in Lebanon in order to perpetrate harsh terrorist attacks inside Israel.  Several terrorists who were recruited by Abu Sita, and who were due to be trained by Hizbullah, were recently arrested.

During the current round of Palestinian violence, Abu Sita had also cooperated with Hamas elements in the southern Gaza Strip in order to perpetrate terrorist attacks.

As the commander of the Abu Rish faction, Abu Sita was responsible for hundreds of shooting, mortar and anti-tank rocket attacks against Israeli
civilians and military forces in the Gush Katif area. In one of the more
recent attacks, an Israeli soldier was wounded in the back on 25 July 2004.

Most recently, Abu Sita had been planning a “high-quality” terrorist attack in the Gaza Strip.