Communicated by the Prime Minister’s Office, August 12, 2001
In the past few days, the Palestinian Authority has released from detention
three Hamas terrorists who were involved in the June 1, 2001 attack at the Tel
Aviv Dolphinarium, as well as in additional attacks.
The three – Kasem Nazal Suwei, Ibrahim Dahmas and A’a Rahman Hamad,
prominent Hamas militants from the Kalkilya area – had been detained by PA
security services on various dates, in the wake of pressure which had been
exerted on the PA following the Dolphinarium attack and the July 16, 2001
attack in Binyamina.
The Palestinian security services refrained from questioning the three and
sufficed with holding them under lax supervision in comfortable circumstances.
Last week, they were finally released.
Kassem Suwei is the brother of Tzalah, the terrorist who perpetrated the July
1994 suicide bombing on a #5 bus in Tel Aviv in which 21 people were killed.
Kassem was active in the gang that also included Said Hotri, the terrorist who
perpetrated the Dolphinarium attack.
A’a Rahman Hamad had been involved in the suicide attack on the #5 bus and
served six years in an Israeli prison for this. Immediately upon his release in
October 2000, he became involved with the Hamas military command in the
Kalkilya region.
Ibrahim Dahmas is also a member of Hamas’s military wing. He was active in
the gang that included Said Hotri (see above) and Fadi A’amar, the terrorist
who perpetrated the March 28, 2001 bombing at Neveh Yamin. Dahmas had
also been planning to perpetrate a suicide attack himself.
Since the arrest of the three, Hamas had exerted considerable pressure on the
PA to release them.
Last week, the PA capitulated to Hamas and thus placed Israel in danger since
the three will attempt to perpetrate additional suicide attacks.
