israelinsider: security: Israeli forces foil major terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, Galilee

Israeli forces foil major terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, Galilee
By israelinsider staff August 31, 2001


		08/31 Two Palestinians arrested in foiled Jerusalem shooting Jerusalem Post 08/31 Four members of Palestinian cell arrested in Jerusalem Ha'aretz


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Security forces close the Golani Junction in Israel's north, after a bomb exploded as sappers were attempting to neutralize it.

Israeli forces foiled two major terrorist plots, the first a planned shooting attack on northern Jerusalem Thursday evening, and the second a bomb set to explode Friday afternoon at a bus and hitchhiking stop near a McDonald's restaurant in Israel's north, near the Sea of Galilee.

Near the Shuafat junction in northern Jerusalem, undercover Border Police officers stopped a Palestinian driver and discovered in his car a bag containing automatic weapons. An accomplice fled into a nearby house close to the intersection, causing security forces to surround the building and evacuate its residents before identifying the terrorist. Police reported that two additional terrorists had escaped and declared a state of highest alert in Jerusalem, setting up roadblocks around the capital.

On Friday morning, security forces carrying out a search in the predominantly Arab Beit Hanina neighborhood stopped a Subaru car and discovered another member of the terror cell, in the trunk. They also arrested the driver, who is believed to have brought the terrorists into Jerusalem from Ramallah in the West Bank.

Friday afternoon around 2 pm, a bag containing an explosive charge was discovered by a soldier in a bus stop near the Golani Junction, a major intersection in Israel's north. Dozens of soldiers fled in panic. The bus stop is frequently crowded on weekends with soldiers returning home, and it is adjacent to a popular McDonald's restaurant, crowded at the time. Police sappers were called in to neutralize the bomb, which exploded, causing damage to the sapper's robotic device and to the bus stop structure. There were no injuries.

Since Thursday, a state of very high alert was declared for the Western Galilee area, due both to a specific threat of a suicide bombing attack and indications that Hizbullah forces in Lebanon might be preparing an offensive action, either a kidnapping, a cross-border foray, or a missile attack on Israel's north. It is unclear whether the bomb which exploded at the Golani junction was related to either of these threats.