Hamas man behind deadly attacks nabbed
Security forces arrest Maher Odeh, a Hamas official in Ramallah in charge of cell that carried out terror attacks at Zerifin junction hitchhikers' station, Café Hillel in Jerusalem. In total, military wing under Odeh's command responsible for death of 70 Israelis during second intifada
Hanan Greenberg
Published: 03.14.10, 08:24 / Israel News
A joint force of IDF, Shin Beit and police officers arrested Saturday night Maher Odeh, a Hamas operative who headed a West Bank cell that was responsible for a number of deadly terror attacks including the Café Hillel bombing in Jerusalem and the suicide attack at the Zerifin junction hitchhikers' station in 2003.
Odeh has been wanted by Israel since the 1990s, and is considered one of the commanders of Hamas' military wing in Ramallah – an organization that killed 70 Israelis during the second intifada.
The 47-year-old father of four, who was born in Ein-Yabrud, northeast of Ramallah, is one of the founders of the Hamas movement in the West Bank city. He began operating in the early 1990s, when he formed the Hamas cell in his village, which was responsible for kidnapping and interrogating Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel, and seeking weapons to use in terror attacks.
In 1998, he was questioned by the Palestinians security forces and spent several months in a Palestinian prison. After his release he became one of the organization's most wanted men.
During the al-Aqsa Intifada, intelligence was obtained on Odeh revealing that he commanded and funded the Hamas cell in the West Bank village of Beit Liqya, which was responsible for the death of 10 Israelis. The cell was behind the bombing at the old bus station in Tel Aviv.
His arrest was made possible following precise intelligence obtained by the Shin Beit, and constitutes the final stage in efforts against the Hamas cell that operated in Ramallah during the second intifada and carried out several attacks leaving dozens of Israelis dead.
Since Israel refuses to give the death penalty to terrorist, I have mixed emotions.
It is a great thing that Maher Odeh has been arrested.
But let me be honest, so what.
How long will we hold him until the next good will "peace" offering by a future Israeli government to try to turn enemies into friends. Which has never worked in the past and will not work in the future.
It would be better if the IDF has killed this terrorist in the field.
But the way the chair bound commandos in the IDF prosecutors office are running around throwing Israeli soldiers in jail. It is better we just arrested Odeh as part of the IDF catch and release program.
