(Contributed by the IDF spokesman)

In a joint IDF and ISA activity this morning (Tuesday 10 July 2007) in Nablus a special IDF force arrested the head of several cells operating in the city which belong to Tanzim, an offshoot of Fatah. During the activity the forces arrested another wanted Tanzim operative and uncovered two handguns and five matching ammunition clips.

Nidal Tahsin Darwish Fakia was funded by Hezbollah and by operatives in the Gaza Strip. The infrastructure which he commanded was involved in hundreds of bombing attacks, kidnappings, suicide bombings and shooting attacks in the Nablus region, to which dozens of IDF soldiers fell victim. One of its central operatives, Amin Lubadeh, was the leading manufacturer of bombs and explosive belts in the Samaria region and masterminded numerous terror attacks in Israel before he was killed during an attempt to arrest him in April 2007.

Among the attacks carried out by Fakia's infrastructure were a bombing attack on July 17th 2006, in which Staff Sergeant Oshri Damri was killed, and another on June 28th 2007 in which an IDF officer was severely injured.

The infrastructure operating under Fakia manufactured and delivered explosives, bombs and explosive belts to various terror organizations in Nablus.

Cells operating under Fakia were recently involved in planning mega-terror attacks in the Israeli home front and attacks in the Nablus area.