Israeli troops catch suicide bomb suspects

Israeli security forces have arrested two members of the radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad who intended to blow themselves up in suicide attacks in Jerusalem, radio and newspaper reports said today.

The military, however, could not confirm that the men were the intended bombers, saying only that troops yesterday arrested two men connected to the Islamic Jihad cell which planned the attacks.

Earlier this week Israeli police arrested five members of an Islamic Jihad cell who they said tried to sneak two suicide bombers into Jerusalem for an attack set for yesterday.

Police said they discovered a suicide bomber’s vest in the Jerusalem Arab neighbourhood of Beit Hanina. Security officials said one of the bombers was to blow himself up in a bus and another at a night club.

After more than 100 suicide bombing attacks by Palestinian militants in four years of conflict, a February 8 truce has drastically reduced the violence. However, Israeli security insists that soldiers and agents have foiled many attacks planned by militants, especially Islamic Jihad and the larger violent Islamic group, Hamas. Both signed on to the truce in talks in Cairo after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas announced the ceasefire at a summit in Egypt on February 8.

Despite the truce, a Palestinian bomber carried out a suicide attack on February 25 at a nightclub on the Tel Aviv waterfront, killing five Israelis. Israel blamed Islamic Jihad, and Channel Two TV reported that the cell just detained was linked to that attack as well.