(Communicated by Israeli security sources)

Mahmud Arkan, a senior Popular Resistance Committees terrorist, was killed in an Israel Air Force missile attack on his car this evening (Monday, 7 December 2005) in the southern Gaza Strip.

Arkan was responsible for a substantial number of the terrorist attacks carried out in the area of Rafah during the past few months. These include anti-tank missile attacks and shooting attacks against IDF units.

Mahmud Saliman Matuli Arkan, born in 1976 and a resident of Rafah, was a former officer in the Palestinian Authority Coastal Police before becoming a prominent member of the Popular Resistance Committees terrorist organization. In June 2005 Arkan was involved in an attack by anti-tank missiles at a construction team near the Girit outpost in which an IDF NCO was killed and two soldiers were wounded.

Arkan operated in coordination with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, the Abu Rish faction, and non-affiliated terrorists in carrying out terrorist attacks and smuggling weaponry into the Gaza Strip.

During the implementation of the disengagement, Arkan continued with these activities in coordination with the Islamic Jihad, and led shooting, grenade, and bomb attacks against IDF units in the Philadelphi Corridor and Sufa crossing areas.

After the IDF completed its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and until recently, Arkan had been involved in planning and carrying out shooting attacks on IDF units patrolling the security fence surrounding the Gaza Strip. He was also engaged in smuggling weaponry on a large scale and planning additional attacks.

Information regarding Arkan had been transferred to the Palestinian Authority security officials, who did nothing to prevent the continuation of these attacks.