IDF forces operating in the Ramallah district nabbed Mahar Udda, 47, a very senior Hamas commander who has been on the wanted list for over a decade, a man who is linked to the deaths of some 70 Israelis.

Some of the heinous attacks attributed to Udda include the September 9, 2003 attacks in Jerusalem’s Café Hillel, claiming seven lives and the suicide bomber at Tzrifin, claiming the lives of nine IDF soldiers. Dozens were injured in the attacks as well.

Reports indicate that the master terrorist was in PA (Palestinian Authority) custody in 1998, but he was released a short time later.

The arrest is significant in Israel’s ongoing effort to dismantle the Hamas infrastructure operating throughout Yehuda and Shomron, seeking to prevent Hamas’ take-over of those areas, a move that most see as unpreventable at this stage.

Two on the victims of the Hillel Café attack were Dr. David Appelbaum and his daughter Nava HY”D. They went out for coffee, permitting dad to speak with his daughter on the night prior to her chasnah. She was planning to marry Har Nof resident Chanan Sand, who this week will walk under the chupah with Hashem’s help, perhaps somewhat a closure after such tragedy has stricken yet another family in Eretz Yisrael.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)