Shin Bet arrests Gazan suspected of planning sniper attack on IDF
Mohammed Abu Amsa of Beit Hanoun held after requesting entry into Israel, en route to Ramallah for medical treatment.
A Gaza resident suspected of planning a sniper attack against Israeli forces was arrested recently when he requested entry into Israel for medical treatment in Ramallah. A gag order on the arrest was lifted on Thursday.
Mohammed Abu Amsa, 32, of Beit Hanoun, was nabbed in a joint operation between the Shin Bet security service and the Israel Police. He will be charged in the Be'er Sheva District Court on Thursday with attempted murder, contact with a foreign agent and conspiracy to commit murder.
Abu Amsa confessed during interrogation that he was meant to be the sniper in a planned attack on an Israel Defense Forces patrol along the security fence on the Gaza border. He gathered intelligence on IDF movements, trained in sniper marksmanship and assessed different possible methods for carrying out the attack, according to a Shin Bet statement.
The attack was postponed after Abu Amsa was injured and sought treatment in the West Bank. The intention was to carry it out after his return.
The Shin Bet said that Abu Amsa was a terrorist belonging to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.565588
