PHOTOS: Shin Bet Arrests Hamas Terrorists Planning A Kidnapping On Chanukah R”L

(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

The Shin Bet in conjunction with the IDF and the Israel Police have thwarted a kidnapping operation in Shomron that was planned by Hamas to be carried out during Chanukah.

In October, the Shin Bet uncovered a squad of Hamas operatives from the village of Tel, near Shechem, whose members were involved in planning the attack.

The Shin Bet investigation revealed that members of the cell were involved in planning a kidnap attack by a soldier or a settler from one of the bus stations in the central junctions near Shechem.

The members of the cell are:

Mu’ad ‘Ashtiyeh, born in 1991, a Hamas operative living in Tel, head of the cell, is suspected of planning the attack, acquiring weapons and recruiting other members of the cell.

Muhammad Ramadan and Ahmad Ramadan, who were born in 1998, are Hamas activists and are suspected of having been recruited by Mu’ad and agreed to serve as members of a cell.

The cell was in contact with Omar ‘Atzida, a Hamas military activist and a member of the Hamas headquarters in the Gaza Strip, who is currently working to launch military activity and money routes from Gaza to Yehuda and Shomron.

The Hamas headquarters in Gaza served as a financing and financing entity, and the purpose of the attack was to promote negotiations for the release of security prisoners incarcerated in Israel.

The investigation also revealed that during the planning of the attack, members of the cell carried out meticulous intelligence gathering at the routes, hitchhiking and central junctions. The plan was to dress up settlers from the area and cause the victim to board the terrorists’ vehicle.

In addition, as part of the planning of the attack, the head of the cell inquired about possible hiding places in the Shechem area to hide the abductee in order to conduct the negotiations.

During the Shin Bet interrogation, the weapons that were supposed to be used by the cell members to carry out the abduction were seized, including a pistol, an electric shock and a gas spray.

The findings of the investigation were transferred to the Military Prosecution in Shomron to examine the filing of indictments against the persons involved.