Just a day after a Hamas operative killed an Israeli and injured four others in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem, the Shin Bet revealed on Monday that it had thwarted a massive Hamas terror network planning terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank.
The network, led by senior Hamas officials living abroad, operated throughout the West Bank and aimed to carry out attacks including suicide bombings in both the West Bank and Israel proper.
IDF operation to arrest Hamas terror network, November 22, 2021. (Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
Some 50 cell members were arrested in the joint Shin Bet, IDF and Israel Police operation. According to a statement released by the Shin Bet, the cell members arrested were involved in establishing the cell and raising funds to buy weapons. During the arrest operation, weapons and enough explosive materials to make three or four suicide belts were seized.
The cell members were drafted from around the West Bank, including Ramallah, Hebron and Jenin. One of the main individuals involved in the formation of the network was Hijazi Qawasmi 37, a known Hamas operative from Hebron. Qawasmi had been arrested multiple times due to his work for Hamas and planning for terror attacks.
The detonating of weapons belonging to the Hamas terror cell group thwarted by the IDF, November 22, 2021. (Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
The network was funded and led by Deputy Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Saleh al-Arouri who lives in Turkey. Arouri is one of the founders of Hamas’s military wing the Izzedin al-Qassam Brigades and is responsible for several bloody terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.
Shin Bet thwarts Hamas terrorist network in the West Bank (credit: SHIN BET)
Arouri worked with additional Hamas members abroad, including Zakaria Najib, originally from east Jerusalem, who was one of the kidnapers of IDF soldier Nachson Waxman and was released in the Shilat Deal. Najib was involved in the planning of attempted assassinations against Israelis in 2019.
Qawasmi met with the Hamas officials abroad in order to form the terrorist network and received orders to conduct terrorist attacks. al-Arouri offered Qawasmi $1 million if he succeeded in conducting a kidnapping attack against Israelis.
In September, two IDF soldiers from the elite Duvdevan unit were injured by friendly fire during an arrest operation against members of the Hamas terrorist network in the town of Burqin in the West Bank. Five Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli forces during the arrests.
An official in the Shin Bet stated that this was “an extensive and significant thwarting of a dangerous terrorist infrastructure that had planned a series of severe terrorist attacks.”
“The purpose of the intensified terrorist activity of Hamas operatives abroad and in Gaza vis-à-vis the operatives in Judea and Samaria is to undermine stability in the area, while imposing a heavy price on local residents,” added the official.
“You have carried out your mission well, you have thwarted a broad terrorist network and thanks to you the people of Israel have more peace and security,” said IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi in a conversation with commanders in the commando units.
“The last few years have been safe years and one of the reasons for that is you, the soldiers – you do not know how many families you have prevented much sorrow from. I trust you in training, routine and operational activities,” added Kohavi.
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