HEBRON: Israel’s security service said Sunday it had broken up a network of Hamas militants in the occupied West Bank suspected of planning attacks, arresting 60 of the group’s members.
The Shin Bet internal security agency said in a statement that “a significant, complex, and large-scale Hamas infrastructure was exposed” in the West Bank city of Hebron.
It said it broke up 10 militant cells that “operated to carry out attacks in various formats in the immediate time frame”.
Hamas leaders “worked to recruit, arm, and train additional Hamas operatives from the area to carry out shooting and bombing attacks against Israeli targets”, according to the statement.
Shin Bet said the three-month joint operation with the military and police was its biggest investigation in the West Bank “in the past decade”.
“We arrested over 60 operatives, confiscated 22 different types of weapons, and solved a shooting attack (near Hebron)… 15 years ago in which four Israelis were murdered.”
It said terrorism charges were being filed against the suspects.
Hamas did not immediately comment on the statement.
Violence has surged in the West Bank since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel.
The Palestinian health ministry says Israeli troops or settlers have killed 945 Palestinians, many of them militants but also scores of civilians, since the start of the Gaza war.
Israel says 35 of its soldiers and civilians have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids since that date.
