Israeli military sources have revealed details of an elaborate plot by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization against an Israeli naval vessel operating off the Gaza coast in the Mediterranean. Israeli intelligence uncovered an elaborate plan in which a Gazan fishing boat would serve as the decoy to draw the attention of an Israel patrol boat. Once engaged, the patrol would become the target of a second IJ vessel from which a Cornet surface-to-surface missile would be fired. Survivors would be picked up by a third boat and held hostage as pawns in a prisoner swap. The plot was thwarted on March 12 when Israeli security authorities arrested 12 Gazans from the town of Rafiah. The cell was apparently headed by Amin Saadi Muhammad Jumaa, a 24-year old who is both a fisherman and Islamic Jihad member. Although the planned attack on the naval vessel bore Islamic Jihad’s fingerprints, Israeli policy is to hold Hamas, as rulers of the Gaza Strip, fully responsible for any violent attacks launched there. Islamic Jihad has been arguably more active than Hamas in recent months as observers believe Hamas wants the lid to remain on Gaza. But recently Islamic Jihad has been identified as the source of mortar rounds fired into Israel and the owners of a terror tunnel built beneath Gaza and into Israeli territory that was blown-up last October.
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