(Communicated by the IDF Spokesman)

During a joint IDF and ISA operation in Ramallah today (May 28, 2007), IDF forces arrested Haled Jamal Mussah Shawish, the head of the Tanzim terror infrastructure in the city. Shawish was armed with a handgun at the time of his arrest.

Shawish was actively involved in recent years in several terror attacks. Among his activities, Shawish trained other Tanzim operatives in bomb-making and explosive belt construction, executed bomb attacks and directed a number of suicide bombings. He also took part in the planning of a number of abductions.

In late 2001 Shawish was crippled by injuries sustained in a gunfight with IDF soldiers. However, this did not hinder his continued efforts to direct murderous attacks against Israeli civilians.

Shawish took part in the following attacks:

• November 2000 - A shooting attack at an Israeli vehicle traveling along the trans-Samaria route in which a number of civilians were wounded.
• December 21, 2000 - A shooting attack at an Israeli vehicle on road 443 in which a civilian was killed.
• December 31, 2000 - A shooting attack at an Israeli vehicle near the community of Ofra. A married couple was killed and their five children wounded.
• December 2000 - A shooting attack at an Israeli vehicle in which a civilian was wounded.
• April 30, 2001 - A shooting attack against an Israeli vehicle in the Ramallah area in which an Israeli civilian was killed.
• September 15, 2001 - Using a weapon delivered by Shawish, terrorists executed a shooting attack in the Jerusalem neighborhood of the French Hill, in which an Israeli civilian was killed.
• February 27, 2002 - A female suicide bomber dispatched by Shawish, carried out a bombing at a checkpoint in which two policemen were wounded.
• March 21, 2002 - A suicide bombing in King George Street in Jerusalem, in which three Israelis were killed and 35 others wounded.

In recent years and up until his arrest, Shawish held a dominant position in the Tanzim's terrorist infrastructure and was a member of the organization's decision-making committee.

Shawish took advantage of his connections with Palestinian Authority officials in order to hide in Ramallah's Mukataa compound for several years. Recently he was involved in shooting attacks in the region.