The ruling Fatah movement led by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is said to be the leading force behind efforts to resume suicide bombings against Israel.

Israeli security sources said the Fatah movement has been recruiting most of the suicide bombers in recent operations against Israel. The sources said Fatah has been recruiting in such cities as Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus, and Tulkarm in attacks financed by Iran and Hizbullah.

On Thursday, a Fatah operative blew himself up on an Israeli bus in Jerusalem, killing 10 people and injuring 47. The operative was identified as a PA security officer based in Bethlehem who detonated his belt full of explosives outside the residence of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. This was the second suicide attack claimed by Fatah in as many weeks. Last week, three Israelis were killed when a women suicide bomber recruited by Fatah blew herself up at the Erez border terminal in the northern Gaza Strip.

A statement by the Fatah-dominated Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the bomber was Ali Jaara who was living in Bethlehem’s Aida refugee camp. Jaara served as an officer of the Preventive Security Apparatus, established to maintain internal security in the PA areas.

The suicide attack, the statement said, was meant to mark Jaara’s 25th birthday and avenge the killing of nine Palestinians in Gaza City in an Israeli military operation on Wednesday. Later, Hamas released a statement that also claimed responsibility for the Jerusalem bus bombing. Jaara was said to have been part of a faction of the PSA that supported suicide attacks against Israel. The PSA has received much of the U.S. funding of an estimated $300 million in Washington’s effort to restructure and bolster Palestinian security forces and restore civilian infrastructure.

The sources said Arafat has adopted Hizbullah as his leading ally in the insurgency war against Israel. They said Hizbullah and Iran supply Arafat’s Fatah with 90 percent of its funding for operations. Iran and Hizbullah have been the leading supporters of suicide attacks against Israel.

On early Friday, Israeli troops entered Bethlehem and the Aida camp and carried out an several arrests in what Israeli officials termed a limited response. This was the first Israeli military operation in Bethlehem since June 2003.

This ran on the Middle East News Line on January 30th, 2004.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR