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Last update - 00:00 27/07/2008
Security sources: Israeli prisons are training grounds for Hamas terrorists
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Gaza, terror, West Bank 

Security forces have received a number of warnings of possible terror attacks in the West Bank and within the Green Line by Hamas activists recently released from Israeli jails, a senior Israel Defense Forces officer said over the weekend.

The IDF and the Shin Bet security service have seen efforts by Hamas over the past few months to rehabilitate its military infrastructure in the West Bank. The organization was hit hard by a wave of arrests and targeted killings undertaken by Israel between 2001 and 2005.

Previously, in the intifada's early years, Hamas had been dominant in terms of the scope of terror attacks it initiated. The balance of power shifted due to the damage Hamas suffered, and since 2004, Islamic Jihad, particularly its network in Jenin and Tul Karm, has become the most dangerous group in the territories.
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Now the picture has changed again, thanks to two developments: Islamic Jihad itself has been hit hard in recent years, and a large number of lower-level Hamas activists have recently been released from Israeli jails after serving sentences of about five years for relatively minor intifada-related crimes.

An unknown but apparently large number of these ex-convicts return to terrorism, employing new techniques picked up on the inside from veteran prisoners. The army and the Shin Bet say that most of these activists are quick to begin setting up new networks to carry out major attacks.

On the recommendation of the army and the Shin Bet, the Prison Service is now making efforts to keep prisoners from the West Bank separate from those from Gaza, and also to keep Hamas inmates apart from members of other groups, since Hamas tends to exert influence on prisoners from other organizations, including Fatah.

Security officials say Hamas networks are springing up mainly in the area of Hebron and Nablus. A return to terror does not contradict Hamas policy, since the cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Israel, which was instituted on June 19, applies to the Gaza Strip only, and not the West Bank.

Hamas seems to have an interest in continuing attacks in the West Bank to prove to the Palestinian public that it has not completely abandoned the armed struggle against Israel. Security forces are also trying to find out whether Hamas is linked in any way to the three attacks in recent months in Jerusalem (the shooting at Mercaz Harav Yeshiva and the two bulldozer attacks in the capital's center). So far no real connection has been found between the three perpetrators of those attacks.

The understanding that released prisoners are returning to terror also has significance for the talks over the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. One of the main arguments the Shin Bet has raised against the release of murderers is the concern that they will continue where they left off when let out of jail. Although there are no official statistics on the rate of terrorist recidivism, it is clearly high.

The most recent terror alerts, like the re-arrest of released prisoners, shows that the question is not only about what crimes convicts committed in the past, but also the extent of danger posed they are believed to pose now. Experts, some within the security services, claim that the greatest risk is sometimes posed by those who committed relatively minor offenses, but then obtained know-how and motivation from other prisoners during their incarceration.

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      1.   Absolutely ridiculous 03:00  |  Guy From NYC 27/07/08
      2.   Now if they were given the Arab treatement.Would they still be as 03:01  |  PETER SM 27/07/08
      3.   Only release them if the promise to be good boys and girls! 03:38  |  Voice of Reason 27/07/08
      4.   Peter SM obviously didnt read the article 04:13  |  Guy From NYC 27/07/08
      5.   The Solution To All Of This 05:00  |  NW Guy 27/07/08
      6.   I think Israel Wants Enemies 06:41  |  Bernie 27/07/08
      7.   STUPID ISREALIES 07:46  |  Fred 27/07/08
      8.   #2 Peter SM 07:51  |  maoriboy 27/07/08
      9.   Solution 07:52  |  Ron 27/07/08
      10.   Hamas prefers the deaths of Israelis over the lives of... 08:23  |  Jean Van Daem 27/07/08
      11.   No Arabs - No bombing 08:25  |  Me 27/07/08
      12.   Idiot in NYC 09:26  |  Michael 27/07/08
      13.   Stupid - nothing less 09:29  |  Palestinian Brit 27/07/08
      14.   release them all on desert islands 10:15  |  victor hardman 27/07/08
      15.   GUY from NY.You don`t like the"Arab treatement"? You have been 10:18  |  PETER SM 27/07/08
      16.   MAORIBOY.then do not complain if they stay cooling their heels 10:36  |  PETER SM 27/07/08
      17.   FINALLY, SOME GOOD NEWS 11:09  |  indrajaya 27/07/08
      18.   Peter SM 11:10  |  Guy From NYC 27/07/08
      19.   GUY from NY.Seems you agree&evendream with the Arab treatement 12:08  |  PETER SM 27/07/08
      20.   peter sm 19 12:27  |  potobac 27/07/08
      21.   NO SURPRISE! 12:28  |  Ernest Graefenberg 27/07/08
      22.   the IDF should stop KIDNAPPING Occupied Palestinians 16:33  |  POP 27/07/08
      23.   I AM REALLY WORRIED 16:56  |  Robert 27/07/08
      24.   POP Palestinians should end terror then there would be peace,your 17:09  |  PETER SM 27/07/08
      25.   POTOBAC 88% of the British mandate is what the Arabs were offered 17:11  |  PETER SM 27/07/08
      26.   Israeli jails do not make "terrorists" 17:31  |  Natallie Durson 27/07/08
      27.   Natallie Durson (#26) yes ``Right`` 18:21  |  Gil 27/07/08
      28.   Israelis cowardly stoop to Humanitarian Policies 19:22  |  Dagma 27/07/08
      29.   What better place to learn than from those who... 20:19  |  ManintheMiddle 27/07/08
      30.   Right Natalie Israeli jails don`t make terrorists 20:51  |  x-ray 27/07/08
      31.   Why the surprise? 20:51  |  Danny 27/07/08
      32.   Israe says her beleagured PM IS TIRED OF WINNING 20:57  |  Natasha 27/07/08
      33.   Just what the world needs... 21:19  |  Gray 27/07/08
      34.   To # 29 ManintheMiddle - Terror against Terror 21:22  |  Pathfinder 27/07/08
      35.   It is your fault Israel 22:14  |  Janice 27/07/08
      36.   A question for Peter SM 22:23  |  Janice 27/07/08
      37.   peter sm 02:12  |  potobac 28/07/08
      38.   #13 19:32  |  JW 28/07/08
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