June 16, 2004

In a typical undercover operation, a team of Arab speaking Israeli police, dressed as Palestinians, entered the West Bank town of Jenin at dawn and caught several members of the Islamic Jihad organization. The terrorists were cornered in a restaurant, where their leader was killed and the others arrested. Operations like this are carried out several times a week, as the Israelis obtain enough information to pinpoint the location of a terrorist cell. The undercover team has backup that can be on the scene within minutes, but it's mainly up to the half dozen or so undercover policemen to identify the suspects and make the arrest, often while under fire. The terrorists are more valuable alive than dead, because of the information that can be obtained from some of them.