Hamas terror cell planning to kidnap Israelis caught
Last month, Shin Bet, IDF, and police forces arrested six members of a Hamas terror cell. Its members planned to kidnap an Israeli, murder them, and had picked a burial spot. They planned on exchanging the body for Palestinian prisoners.
Six Hamas members from Hebron and Jerusalem planned a to kidnap and murder an Israeli, in a similar fashion to the kidnapping and murder of Israeli youths Gil-Ad Schaer, Eyal Yifrach, and Naftali Frenkel in June 2014.
On Thursday it was cleared for publication that the Shin Bet, IDF, and Israel Police arrested them last month, and exposed the grave the cell had dug for the body. The cell had intended to negotiate with Israel in order to free prisoners in exchange for the body.
Six indictments were filed against the suspects on Thursday by the Jerusalem District Prosecutor.
One of the terror squad's members, Ziad Abu Hadoan, aged about 20, is a resident of the Old City of Jerusalem and had been released from jail in October 2015 after serving a sentence for violent action at the Temple Mount.
Another member was Maher Qawasmeh, a Hebron resident aged about 36, who headed the group. He had previously served a prison sentence of about two years in the past for being involved with the planning of terrorist activities in Hamas' name.
The investigation into the cell's activities also revealed that the group had been meeting in Hebron for about a year and had planned various terror attacks during that time. They attempted to pass on weapons for use in a shooting attack in Jerusalem and ultimately decided to try and carry out a kidnapping and murder of an Israeli.
According to the Shin Bet, members of the cell also described during their interrogation how they planned to carry out the kidnap. The plan involved using two cars, the main one of which was to be used by the Israeli member of the cell, Amer Rajibi, with the idea that his knowledge of Hebrew would help with carrying out the kidnapping.
A second member of the cell was to wait nearby and then push the Israeli's car off the road.
During Qawasmeh's interrogation it was revealed that he had started to work with members in the cell to create explosive materials in order to use them in a terror attack.
The cell purchased chemical materials and manure in order to make explosives but claimed they had not succeeded in doing so.
