The attacker who killed eight Israeli students at a Jerusalem religious school was acting upon instructions from Hamas leaders in Damascus and in coordination with Hizbullah, the Israeli daily Haaretz said Sunday.
The Tel Aviv-based newspaper said that over the weekend, eight East Jerusalem residents were arrested in connection with Alaa' Hisham Abu Dhaim's shooting attack. Abu Dhaim's father, two of his brothers and two cousins are among those detained, Haaaretz said on its website. It said that the father also removed Hamas and Hizbullah flags from a mourners' tent the family had erected, after being instructed to do so by police.
According to the Palestinian news agency Maan, Abu Dhaim's father had in the past been a member of Hamas.
Haaretz quoted Palestinian sources as saying that the attack had been planned by a Hamas network in the West Bank acting on orders from its leaders in Damascus. They said the leadership in Gaza Strip was not privy to the plan, which was drawn up in coordination with Hizbullah, the sources said. Haaretz reported the Palestinian authority believes this was the first of a number of planned attacks by both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, independent of each other.
Israel's Shin Bet security service said the gunman was not known to them, Haaretz added. It said an initial police investigation has revealed that the shooting was not a spontaneous attack, but had been planned in advance.
Police also learnt that Abu Dhaim, who had personally chosen the location and time for the shooting, had carried out extensive reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering work on the religious school, according to Haaretz.
