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Israel arrests arch-terrorist on cusp of executing mass attack

Israeli forces arrested arch-terrorist Zakaria Zubeidim, in addition to Tarek Barghout, who were reportedly on the verge of executing a massive terror attack, the Shin Bet announced Wednesday.

By TPS and World Israel News Staff

Zakaria Zubeidi, whom Israeli security forces arrested on Wednesday, has a lengthy history of acts of terrorism against the Jewish state and is responsible for the murder of dozens of Israelis, with the Shin Bet categorizing his recent terror activity as “severe.”

The Shin Bet released the following statement on Wednesday: “This morning, in a joint operation by the Shin Bet security service, Israel Defense Forces and Israel Police, Zakaria Zubeidi and Tarek Barghout were arrested in connection with their involvement in serious and current terrorist activities,” Times of Israel reported.

Zubeidi served as the Jenin chief of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade and is considered by the Israeli government to be a chief strategist of suicide bombers. Tarek Barghout was also arrested, an individual who has been involved in representing suspects in terror cases.

In 2007, Zubeidi supposedly renounced terrorism and committed himself to “cultural resistance through theater.”

He removed himself temporarily from Israel’s most-wanted list when in 2008 he handed over his guns to the Palestinian Authority and accepted Israeli amnesty, but Israel rescinded that amnesty in 2011.

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While Israel’s Shin Bet security service did not provide details related to reasons Zubeidi and Barghout were taken into custody, footage surfaced of the latter’s car being confiscated in Ramallah.

Zubeidi remained in Palestinian Authority custody in Ramallah for years, but was released in 2017, after which he returned to Jenin.