Kidnapping attempt foiled
Shin Bet foils additional kidnapping attempt by two Gaza residents: plan was to photograph, then kill Israeli soldier or civilian
A kidnapping attempt by Hamas operatives was foiled last month, and cleared for publication Thursday. The Shin Bet caught two operatives trying to infiltrate Israel in the Mount Sagi area, on the Israel-Egypt border, in order to kidnap an Israeli soldier or civilian and murder him.
In their investigation, Muhammad Bahabtza, 25, from Gaza, and Abu Senima, 28, from Rafah, admitted that they had been sent to Israel in order to carry out a kidnapping, as an additional bargaining chip for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Prior to leaving for Egypt, they underwent military training for a month, which included weapons training with pistols, M-16s and Kalashnikovs. The two planned to target the Haletz community, near Ashkelon. Abu Senima was very familiar with the area, having worked there in the past. The men were instructed to kidnap a Jewish male, soldier or civilian, bring him to a nearby field, photograph him with a cellular phone, murder him and bury him in the field.
Syringes and a hoe to dig the grave
The two were told to return to Gaza, via Egypt, once they had done this, in order to transfer the picture to Hamas operatives, who would then try to bargain for the release of Palestinian prisoners. They were given tear gas and two vials, one containing a sedative, which was to help them subdue the victim until getting to the field. The second vial contained regular medicine, which was supposed to serve as a cover, in the event that the vials triggered suspicion at the Rafah border crossing into Egypt. The two men were instructed to buy syringes in Egypt, as well as a hoe to dig the grave. Additionally, while in Israel, they were instructed to identify potential locations for suicide bombings.
The two men left Gaza for Egypt in March, but because they didn't have enough money to purchase pistols, returned to Gaza without accomplishing the mission. In June, they underwent additional weapons' training, during which they received one thousand dollars and five hundred NIS each, in order to complete the assignment.
In June, they left Gaza separately, via the Rafah crossing, and met up in Egypt. There, the men received a hoe, as planned, and knives, instead of the originally planned pistols. On June 18th, they tried to infiltrate Israel, with the aid of local smugglers, but were arrested by security forces, in the Mount Sagi area, while carrying the camera phone, the hoe, two knives, two syringes and the vials.
According to the indictment and to the southern police district's terrorist case-file, Bahabtza joined the Hamas in 2003 and served as a lookout and guard in five cases of laying explosives. During one of them, he set up a video camera in nearby electrical wires in order to set off the explosives when IDF forces approached the area. Senima joined the organization in 2001 and helped dig a tunnel from Palestinian Rafah to Egyptian Rafah.
Anat Brashovsky contributed to the writing of this article
