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Authors: Alan Jacobson
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added, “It’s possible to do because they build shafts inside other structures—warehouses, garages, houses—that eventually resurface inside another building on the other side of the border. If they do it well, the presence of equipment and the removal of dirt—and lots of water, because tunnels flood while they’re being built—isn’t really noticed. Still … it’s a tremendous amount of work. They’d need a really good reason to do that.”
DeSantos joined Rodman at the map. “Like moving one or more dirty bombs around the country without our sensors—which are now in a lot of US cities—picking them up?”
They were quiet while they pondered that. “Before we get too far down this road,” Vail said, “let’s back up. Uzi, you said you know this guy, the Gaza voice. How about a name, description, some background?”
“Kadir Abu Sahmoud.” Uzi rubbed at the stubble on his cheeks. “He’s probably about fifty now, bearded, dark complected, about five-nine. He’s a violent psychopath. As if that’s not bad enough, he’s a religious zealot who, like all extremists, interprets the Koran as a violent call to arms. We all know the type.”
“Got some stuff here,” Rodman said as he scrolled down a page on his laptop. “Comes from a well-to-do Palestinian family. Father a doctor, mother a lawyer. Discovered jihad when he killed a Jewish family in the Golan Heights as they farmed their watermelon patch. He was sixteen years old. With that multiple murder on his resume, he was asked to join Force 17 in Lebanon, as one of Yasser Arafat’s personal bodyguards. That was 1981.”
Rodman’s eyes moved across the screen. “A year later, Arafat’s PLO was forced to leave Lebanon—but Sahmoud stayed behind and joined Hezbollah. At nineteen he did some training in Iran under the Revolutionary Guard, where he was recruited by Hamas. He rose through the ranks quickly in the early to mid-1990s when he helped plan drive-by shootings and firebombings in Israel. Then the suicide bombings began, and he was one of the lead planners for the Afula attack, along with the bomb maker, Yahya Ayyash, when a teenager rammed a car packed with explosives into a commuter bus.
“Sahmoud disagreed with Hamas leadership a few years later and formed al Humat with Abu Hassanein, an equally violent former Hamas militant. Their first act was sending a youth into a school with a suicide vest. Fourteen kids were killed, sixty-nine were wounded. Seventeen lost limbs.”
“I’m already liking this guy as our prime suspect,” DeSantos said.
“I’ve seen all the general FBI briefings,” Vail said, “but I’m far from a Mideast expert. I know what I read in the papers about Hamas and al—”
“Bottom line,” Uzi said, “is that the extremists believe their purpose in life is to fight a holy war to kill the Jews and take over Israel. They don’t want a two-state solution. They want a one-state Islamist country.”
“And that’s the problem with Hamas and al Humat,” DeSantos said. “They shoot rockets into Israel knowing Israel has to retaliate. But Hamas uses women and children as human shields to show a large casualty count. Their operations manual explains the strategy and why it’s such an important tactic. The Gazans, meanwhile, are caught in the middle, used, abused, intimidated, and harassed. Hamas tells them that this jihad is Allah’s will. Instead of focusing on building a future for their people with infrastructure and jobs and commerce, they carry out terrorist attacks using militant violence.”
“You said their main purpose is to wage a holy war,” Vail said.
“Two groups, similar philosophies. Hamas has three branches: one provides funding for schools and health care, one deals with political and religious mandates. Then there’s a terrorism-based military unit that gathers information about Palestinians who’ve violated Islamic law and others who are informing for Israel. Their Izzedine al
DeSantos joined Rodman at the map. “Like moving one or more dirty bombs around the country without our sensors—which are now in a lot of US cities—picking them up?”
They were quiet while they pondered that. “Before we get too far down this road,” Vail said, “let’s back up. Uzi, you said you know this guy, the Gaza voice. How about a name, description, some background?”
“Kadir Abu Sahmoud.” Uzi rubbed at the stubble on his cheeks. “He’s probably about fifty now, bearded, dark complected, about five-nine. He’s a violent psychopath. As if that’s not bad enough, he’s a religious zealot who, like all extremists, interprets the Koran as a violent call to arms. We all know the type.”
“Got some stuff here,” Rodman said as he scrolled down a page on his laptop. “Comes from a well-to-do Palestinian family. Father a doctor, mother a lawyer. Discovered jihad when he killed a Jewish family in the Golan Heights as they farmed their watermelon patch. He was sixteen years old. With that multiple murder on his resume, he was asked to join Force 17 in Lebanon, as one of Yasser Arafat’s personal bodyguards. That was 1981.”
Rodman’s eyes moved across the screen. “A year later, Arafat’s PLO was forced to leave Lebanon—but Sahmoud stayed behind and joined Hezbollah. At nineteen he did some training in Iran under the Revolutionary Guard, where he was recruited by Hamas. He rose through the ranks quickly in the early to mid-1990s when he helped plan drive-by shootings and firebombings in Israel. Then the suicide bombings began, and he was one of the lead planners for the Afula attack, along with the bomb maker, Yahya Ayyash, when a teenager rammed a car packed with explosives into a commuter bus.
“Sahmoud disagreed with Hamas leadership a few years later and formed al Humat with Abu Hassanein, an equally violent former Hamas militant. Their first act was sending a youth into a school with a suicide vest. Fourteen kids were killed, sixty-nine were wounded. Seventeen lost limbs.”
“I’m already liking this guy as our prime suspect,” DeSantos said.
“I’ve seen all the general FBI briefings,” Vail said, “but I’m far from a Mideast expert. I know what I read in the papers about Hamas and al—”
“Bottom line,” Uzi said, “is that the extremists believe their purpose in life is to fight a holy war to kill the Jews and take over Israel. They don’t want a two-state solution. They want a one-state Islamist country.”
“And that’s the problem with Hamas and al Humat,” DeSantos said. “They shoot rockets into Israel knowing Israel has to retaliate. But Hamas uses women and children as human shields to show a large casualty count. Their operations manual explains the strategy and why it’s such an important tactic. The Gazans, meanwhile, are caught in the middle, used, abused, intimidated, and harassed. Hamas tells them that this jihad is Allah’s will. Instead of focusing on building a future for their people with infrastructure and jobs and commerce, they carry out terrorist attacks using militant violence.”
“You said their main purpose is to wage a holy war,” Vail said.
“Two groups, similar philosophies. Hamas has three branches: one provides funding for schools and health care, one deals with political and religious mandates. Then there’s a terrorism-based military unit that gathers information about Palestinians who’ve violated Islamic law and others who are informing for Israel. Their Izzedine al
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