Jerusalem – Dozens of operatives from various terrorist organizations underwent military training in Iran, according to an indictment handed down on Monday by the Beer Sheva District Court against a resident of Gaza.

Alaa Abu Madif, 30, belongs to the Abu el-Rish Battalions. Its directors decided to send him to a military base in Syria, where he would undergo intensive military training that would enable him to perpetrate terror attacks against soldiers and civilians. Mr. Abu Madif and several dozen operatives of various terrorist groups traveled from Gaza to Cairo and flew to Damascus several days later. In the Syrian capital, they were told that within several days they would be flown to Iran, where for a month they underwent training on military bases. Two Syrian officers, who introduced themselves as military trainers, were in charge of teaching the group.

Upon his return to Gaza, Mr. Abu Madif began to teach methods of detonation and shooting at IDF troops to others. He was involved in firing Kassam rockets at the Kissufim crossing point, filmed their launch with a video camera and was also involved in planning large terror attacks on IDF bases in the area. He was also involved in firing rockets on Sderot and was supposed to carry out a suicide attack together with two of his comrades.

Mr. Abu Madif and his two fellow terrorists had already filmed their last testaments on video, but a short while before the attack was to take place, a high-ranking figure in the organization decided that it would not be carried out.

Mr. Abu Madif confessed to the charges against him. As stated, on Monday, the Israeli district attorney of the southern region handed down an indictment charging him with, among other things, undergoing forbidden training, membership in a terrorist group, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit a crime.

PA Demands Military As Part Of West Bank State

The Middle East Newsline has confirmed that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has demanded the right to establish a military after independence.

Palestinian negotiators have relayed a demand that any Palestinian state would be allowed to establish an army and air force, with their military deployed along the borders with Israel and Jordan.

“If we are to become an independent state, then we are responsible for our own security,” a PA source said. “This has been our position.”

The PA demand was relayed by chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei, a former Palestinian prime minister. This position marked a departure of earlier understandings that any Palestinian state be demilitarized.

Mr. Qurei submitted the Palestinian demand for a military during negotiations with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem on Sunday. Sources at the Israel Foreign Ministry said Ms. Livni was taken aback by Mr. Qurei’s position and thought he meant that the new Palestinian state would create a strong police force.

“Livni was very upset by the Palestinian demand and saw this as a violation of previous commitments,” an Israeli official said.

The Israeli official said the PA has hardened its positions during the latest U.S.-sponsored negotiations for a Palestinian state by 2009. The official said Mr. Qurei was supported by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who determined that the Palestinian state must not be inferior to the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip, which has established a 10,000-man military.

David Bedein can be reached at Media@actcom.co.il. His Web site is www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com

©The Bulletin 2008

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David Bedein
David Bedein
David Bedein is an MSW community organizer and an investigative journalist.   In 1987, Bedein established the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron to accompany foreign journalists in their coverage of Israel, to balance the media lobbies established by the PLO and their allies.   Mr. Bedein has reported for news outlets such as CNN Radio, Makor Rishon, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Jerusalem Post, For four years, Mr. Bedein acted as the Middle East correspondent for The Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. Bedein has covered breaking Middle East negotiations in Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna. Bedein has overseen investigative studies of the Palestinian Authority, the Expulsion Process from Gush Katif and Samaria, The Peres Center for Peace, Peace Now, The International Center for Economic Cooperation of Yossi Beilin, the ISM, Adalah, and the New Israel Fund.   Since 2005, Bedein has also served as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.   A focus of the center's investigations is The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In that context, Bedein authored Roadblock to Peace: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict - UNRWA Policies Reconsidered, which caps Bedein's 28 years of investigations of UNRWA. The Center for Near East Policy Research has been instrumental in reaching elected officials, decision makers and journalists, commissioning studies, reports, news stories and films. In 2009, the center began decided to produce short movies, in addition to monographs, to film every aspect of UNRWA education in a clear and cogent fashion.   The center has so far produced seven short documentary pieces n UNRWA which have received international acclaim and recognition, showing how which UNRWA promotes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in their education'   In sum, Bedein has pioneered The UNRWA Reform Initiative, a strategy which calls for donor nations to insist on reasonable reforms of UNRWA. Bedein and his team of experts provide timely briefings to members to legislative bodies world wide, bringing the results of his investigations to donor nations, while demanding reforms based on transparency, refugee resettlement and the demand that terrorists be removed from the UNRWA schools and UNRWA payroll.   Bedein's work can be found at: www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com and www.cfnepr.com. A new site,unrwa-monitor.com, will be launched very soon.

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