The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced Monday that it uncovered and arrested a terrorist cell that included a number of Palestinian Red Crescent workers that was behind a shooting in the Ramallah area earlier this year.

The shooting near the Amari Refugee Camp on January 20 caused no injuries but did damage a number of IDF vehicles.

The weapons used in that attack, which were Kalashnikov automatic assault rifles, were provided by a senior officer in the Palestinian Authority´s intelligence service, who is also in charge of security for the Red Crescent.

Among those arrested for their activity in the terror cell was Omar Abu Rayas, who is affiliated with Hamas, is a Red Crescent worker, and the goalie on the Palestinian Olympic soccer team, the Shin Bet said. Manzar Abbas, 41 from Amari, who was also arrested by the Shin Bet, is a senior officer in the PA intelligence services.

Two other men that were arrested are also employed by the Palestinian Red Crescent. A total of 13 people were arrested.

Fuad Usha, the owner of a Ramallah barber shop and who is currently in PA custody, served as a lookout in the attack, the Shin Bet said.

Following the attack, the shooters left the assault rifles in a bag inside an abandoned home and planned to move them the next day to a new hideout. During the investigation members of the cell, the Shin Bet said they were planning additional attacks against IDF troops near the Atarot checkpoint as well as in Ma´ale Adumim and the Efrat settlement.

Those attacks were thwarted by the arrests, the Shin Bet said. (© 1995-2011, The Jerusalem Post 04/03/12)