Hamas terrorist murderer, freed in hostage deal, running Samaria terror cell from Turkey

According to the Shin Bet, the network was uncovered during an operation in December 2025.

By World Israel News Staff

A Hamas terrorist released in a hostage deal last year established a new terror cell in Samaria, directing its operations from abroad.

On Monday, the Shin Bet security agency revealed that it had apprehended two Hamas terrorists in the village of Azzun in Samaria, accusing the two of working on behalf of an exiled terrorist living in Turkey.

According to the Shin Bet, the network was uncovered during an operation in December 2025.

The agency said that Mahmoud Radwan, a Hamas terrorist who was released in January 2025 as part of a prisoner deal and deported to Turkey, recruited Raif Shalou and Nasser Salim to set up a new terror cell.

Investigators said Radwan met the two men at a restaurant in Turkey, where he described his continued Hamas-related activity both in Turkey and in Judea and Samaria.

During the meeting, he told them he was in contact with operatives in Samaria, expressed a desire to die as a martyr, and invited them to join his efforts. According to the Shin Bet, both men agreed.

The agency also said the investigation found that Radwan told one of the suspects that the activities of deported operatives in Turkey were being monitored by Turkish security authorities.

Indictments have since been filed against the two suspects, officials said.

Radwan had been imprisoned in Israel since 2001 for his role in the murder of Yosef Alfasi, an Israeli man from Ginot Shomron who had employed him and other laborers to help build his home.

According to the account cited in the reports, Radwan and three other workers abducted and murdered Alfasi.

The case is likely to add to Israeli scrutiny of released security prisoners who relocate abroad and are later accused of resuming militant involvement from outside the country.

In a statement, the Shin Bet said it would continue acting against attempts by Hamas and other terror organizations, both from within and outside the region, to organize attacks against Israel.