(Communicated by Israeli security sources)

During a joint IDF, Israeli Police and ISA activity in the villages of Tzeida and Ilar in the Tulkarm area last night, aimed at arresting three wanted Islamic Jihad terrorists, the wanted terrorists attempted to escape while firing at security forces and were subsequently killed.

Following are details on the three:

- Jamil Nazya Jamil Ja'ara, 25, resident of the village of Ilar.
- Sa'id Taleb Sa'id Ashkar, 23, considered to be closely connected to the heads of the Islamic Jihad infrastructure.
- Ra'ed Ahmed Mahmoud J'Agag, 28, resident of the village of Tzeidah, a senior wanted terrorist since 2003, who began his terror activity in the Islamic Jihad terror cell in Tzeidah and has since become its head.

The three were all armed and wearing bullet-proof vests. Two AK- 47 assault rifles were found on the persons of Sa'id Taleb and Jamil Ja'ara, and an M-16 rifle and pistol were found on the person of Ra'ed Agag.

The three were involved in shooting attacks aimed at civilian and military Israeli targets in the area of Tulkarm, in the abduction and violent interrogation of Palestinians who were suspected of cooperating with Israel. The three had also accumulated information necessary to the development of missiles which would enable the Islamic Jihad infrastructure in the area to fire projectile weaponry at Israeli communities in Samaria.

This Islamic Jihad terrorist cell is one of the dominant branches of the Islamic Jihad infrastructure in Tulkarm. The head of this infrastructure is Louie Sa'adi, who directs the activity of all its cells and is responsible for the planning of all its terror attacks. This specific infrastructure has been responsible for a long line of terror attacks carried out in the past year, the most prominent of which are:

1. The suicide bombing at the Stage Club in Tel Aviv in February 2005, in which five Israelis were murdered and 55 wounded.
2.  The suicide bombing at the Sharon Nall in Netanya in July 2005, in which five Israelis were murdered and 88 wounded.
3.  A car bomb in the community of Shavei Shomron in July 2005, in which no one was harmed.

This infrastructure, along with Islamic Jihad's infrastructure in Jenin, is highly active and presents a serious threat to the entire Samaria area. The infrastructure had specifically been planning additional terror attacks during the past few days. The terrorists had planned to carry out some of these attacks in the past few weeks but were unable to do so due to the activities of the Israeli security forces, and had been planning additional attacks in the next few days.