ARABS-ISRAEL - Aug. 21 - Jerusalem Arabs Seized In University Bombing.

At a briefing for foreign correspondents, senior officials of the Shin Bet security service say they have arrested a group of Arab residents of E. Jerusalem belonging to Hamas who were responsible for a string of terror attacks over the past four months, including a bombing at Hebrew University on July 31 that killed nine people. The Shin Bet officials say five members of the group were arrested on Aug. 17 as they prepared to carry out another terror attack. Four of them are residents of Silwan, an Arab neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and the fifth is from a village outside Ramallah. The Shin Bet officials say the leader in the attack on Hebrew University was Mohammad Odeh, 29, who was working as a painter at the university. The officials say Odeh was the only one of the cell members who expressed any regret. They say the arrests are significant because of the involvement of Arabs living in Jerusalem. (Their identity cards entitle them to move and work freely throughout Israel. The Jerusalem Arabs have largely stayed on the sidelines in the current uprising). The Shin Bet officials say they will not recommend a change of policy towards the Jerusalem residents. But Israeli Radio reported that Deputy Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra was calling for the demolition of the homes of the cell members - the punishment meted out to families of suicide bombers in the West Bank - and the revocation of their Israeli identity papers. Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert said: "This is definitely something I feared for a long time. I assumed that things beneath the surface are not as they appear from the outside, and I hoped there weren't any elements inside Jerusalem who would sink to such despicable activities". The president of Hebrew University Menachem Megidor said: "I am deeply saddened and disappointed by the fact that a worker who worked for a contractor at the university was involved. Nevertheless, we will continue to keep an open and tolerant campus. There is no choice, and otherwise it is a victory for terrorism". Overall, the Shin Bet officials said the cell was responsible for a string of terror attacks since March 9, when they organised the suicide bombing of the Moment Cafe in Jerusalem, in which 11 people were killed. Their other strikes included the suicide bombing of a billiard hall in Rishon Letzion, where 15 died. They also organised the bombings of two fuel tankers, two attacks on Israel Railways, and a bombing in Pisgat Zeev. In all, 35 people were killed by the group and scores were injured.