Security sources tell us that in an operation on September 21, Israeli forces arrested Haled Saber Mahmad Amsha in Beit Hanun. Amsha is an operative from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades who was responsible for a 2004 attack on the Erez border crossing.
Following his arrest, he told investigators of his active involvement in the recruitment, training and dispatching of two Palestinians who, on February 26, 2004, infiltrated the Erez crossing perimeter via a tunnel and opened fire and hurled grenades at an IDF post. Israeli Sgt. First Class Amir Zimmerman was killed in the attack.
Prior to his arrest, Amsha encouraged other operatives to carry out attacks against the Erez crossing while implementing the method used in the February 2004 attack. He also admitted to his involvement in launching Qassam rockets and to attempts to dispatch suicide bombers into Israel, and in the recruitment and training of new operatives for attacks against IDF soldiers. Perhaps the most chilling statement was his admitted desire that his son carry out a suicide bombing, and that he had trained him for such an attack.
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