Ynetnews: Shin Bet: Palestinian oversaw anti-Israeli terror group in Cairo/Putin freezes S-300 missile transfer to Iran

Shin Bet: Palestinian oversaw anti-Israeli terror group in Cairo
Yoav Zitun, Roi Kais, and Elior Levy/Ynetnews /March 06/16

Shin Bet reveals January arrest of a Palestinian who years ago left the West Bank to Egypt, supposedly to study, and confessed to working with a radical Islamist group and Hamas in order to plan and conduct attacks on Israel, including firing rockets and supporting terrorism inside Israel.  Israel arrested in January a Palestinian who allegedly moved to Egypt in 2007 in order to found a terrorist cell dedicated to attacking Israel, it was cleared for publication on Sunday. Najib Mustafa Nizal, 33, was a resident of Qatabiya until moving to Egypt, supposedly for school.  According to the Shin Bet, Nizal joined Kata’ib al-Mujahideen, a terror organization distinct from the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and adopted radical Islamist features.The group’s operatives committed in the past few years multiple attacks on Israeli targets, especially firing rockets at Israel and attempting to support terrorist activity on Israeli soil. The group has ties to Hamas, including in the areas of labor, training and professional assistance, and weapons supplies. In practice, Kata’ib al-Mujahideen is under the sponsorship of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and receives funding and guidance from it. Nizal confessed to the Shin Bet that while in Egypt, he worked to locate and recruit students from the West Bank who were studying in Egypt. He said he sent these recruits to Gaza for military training and then helped them infiltrate the West Bank.
Nizal also told the Shin Bet that the objective of the recruitment was to create military infrastructure in the West Bank. He further admitted that he conducted his activities in Egypt from a safe house belonging to Kata’ib al-Mujahideen. He said the house was used for meetings of militants from the group in Gaza, including the organization’s leader, Assad Abu Shariah. The apartment also served as a meeting place for senior Hamas operatives from Gaza, according to the confession, as well as for other terror operatives. Nizal also told the Shin Bet that he was involved in transferring funds for the project. He also admitted knowledge of a major weapons smuggling route between Libya and Egypt and from there to the Gaza Strip.

Report: Putin freezes S-300 missile transfer to Iran
Avi Nachmani/Ynetnews/Published: 03.06.16/Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida quotes high-level source stating that Putin decided to stop the transfer based on proof he received from Israel that Iran transferred advanced Russian missile systems to Hezbollah. Russia has decided to freeze its shipment of S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Iran, Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reported on Saturday. The paper quotes a highly reliable source as saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to suspend delivery of the advanced aerial defense system because Iran failed to lived up to its promise not deliver advanced weaponry to the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah. The source, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Kuwaiti paper that Putin based his decision on information he received from Israel, proving that the Iranians had transferred the advanced Russian-made SA-22 surface-to-air missile system to Hezbollah more than once. According to the report, Russian pilots flying missions over Syria and Lebanon have frequently mentioned that their radar systems detected advanced surface-to-air missile systems in Hezbollah-controlled regions on the Lebanese-Syrian border. Russia signed an $800 million contract to sell Iran the S-300 missile system in 2007, but in 2010 suspended their delivery because of strong objections from the United States and Israel. Moscow insisted that its decision in 2010 to freeze the S-300 delivery was based on sanctions the United Nations’ Security Council imposed on Iran over its nuclear program. On January 16, 2016, the US, UN and EU announced they were lifting sanctions against Iran, following the UN atomic watchdog’s announcement that Tehran had put in place all curbs on its atomic activities as required by its landmark deal with major world powers, leading Russia to announce that it will now deliver the S-300 system to the Islamic Republic. In reacton to Russia’s announcement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office “expressed Israel’s dismay at the decision… (and) told President Putin that this step will only increase Iran’s aggression in the region and will destabilize security in the Middle East.”