Israel foils Hamas plot to detonate bomb in Jerusalem

Israel’s security forces stopped a bombing attack in Jerusalem, it was revealed on Tuesday.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s Shin Bet in cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli police thwarted a bomb attack organized by Hamas operatives and intended for Jerusalem. The plot was exposed in June but only permitted for publication on Tuesday.

Israel uncovered the explosive device, which was ready for use and surrounded by ball bearings to cause maximum damage. Security forces also discovered the bomb lab where it was made in Hebron.

In the last few weeks, Ma’ariv reports, several Hamas cells have been discovered in Judea and Samaria. Their job was to recruit Hamas activists for terror attacks against Israeli targets and the Palestinian Authority.

“Activists in the area were instructed to set up squads to carry out kidnapping, shooting and stabbing attacks, to acquire weapons and to locate and recruit additional terrorist operatives,” the paper says, adding that the operatives were “under direct guidance of the military wing of the Hamas terror organization in the Gaza Strip.”

During the course of the investigation, a Hamas cell was discovered in the area of Hebron. One of the activists was a 22-year-old student at the Polytechnic College in Hebron. He was arrested at his home in June and at that time handed over a 3-kilogram bomb.

The student had been trained online by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on how to make bombs.

A senior member of Israel’s Shin Bet said that, “The military arm of the terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip continues to invest great efforts into establishing a terror infrastructure in Judea and Samaria with the goal of carrying out attacks in Israeli territory.

“Hamas isn’t queasy about its means and exploits young people in Judea and Samaria by hurting them and their families for the purpose of advancing terror activities, and even exploits humanitarian permits that the State of Israel gives them for this goal,” the spokesperson said.