Mahmud Ibrahim Hamdan Fanun, head of the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) terror organization in the Bethlehem area, was arrested today in a joint operation by the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency.
Mahmud Fanun, 59, was deported to Jordan in 1986 for his involvement in terror activity and returned to Judea and Samaria in 1996. Fanun has been wanted by security forces since 2001.
In the past few years Mahmud Fanun was head of the PFLP terror organization in the Bethlehem area and was involved in terror activity such as providing weaponry to the organization’s infrastructure and assisting wanted terrorists to hide from Israeli security forces.
As part of his activity in the organization, Fanun held a number of senior positions in the organization, amongst them: member of the organization's head committee in Judea and Samaria and a candidate on behalf of the organization in the parliamentary elections in the Palestinian Authority.