Al-Qaida Plans to Attack Israel and Israelis Abroad
Al-Qaida Plans to Attack Israel and Israelis Abroad
Dec. 6, 2002
Jerusalem (ICEJ) — Israeli and US intelligence officers believe that al-Qaida plans to launch suicide attacks against Israel and against Israelis abroad, based on information on a Web site officials believe speaks for the terrorist organization.
The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem announced that it would be closing several overseas missions after receiving information of possible terror attacks.
The Arabic-language Web site, believed to be al-Qaida’s, also announced the formation of a new branch, the Islamic al-Qaida Organization in Palestinian territory. The site also urges an end to the feuding between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. The Web site said it rejects talks between Israel and the PA aimed at establishing a Palestinian state in exchange for peace.
“Islamic al-Qaida in Palestine joins its voice with the voices of the mujahedin in Palestine in its resistance to the partial and submissive solutions eland for peace, and will accept nothing but the full liberation of the Palestinian land,” said the al-Qaida Web site.
The new Palestinian arm of al-Qaida “will defeat the Zionist Jewish invaders and return them to the place…whence they came,” the site said.
US and Israeli officials now say they believe al-Qaida was behind the suicide car-bomb attack on an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya last week that killed three Israeli tourists and 10 Kenyans. They also believe al-Qaida was involved in a second attack, in which missiles just missed an Israeli airliner taking off nearby. Al-Qaida is blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and the bombing at an Indonesian nightclub.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Thursday that Israel has for some time been aware of Al-Qaida militants entering Palestinian-controlled areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The warnings for Israelis traveling abroad were focused on Thailand, a country where thousands of Israelis travel each month.