Hamas planned to topple PA in West Bank — Shin Bet

The Shin Bet says that along with the IDF, it uncovered and successfully disbanded a West Bank- and Jerusalem-based Hamas cell, which had planned to topple PA President Mahmoud Abbas and take control of the West Bank.

The large-scale operation to thwart the plan took place between May and August 2014, according to the national security agency, but was only released for publication today.

The Hamas cell, which the Shin Bet says operated under the instruction of Hamas leadership in Turkey, had plotted to perpetrate a series of attacks on Israel and thereby destabilize the security situation.

The Shin Bet arrested 93 Hamas operatives, 46 of which were transferred for interrogation. In addition, funds amounting to over NIS 600,000 was uncovered, and 24 rifles, six pistols, seven rocket launchers, a large amount of ammunition, and a getaway car were confiscated by Israeli security forces.

The group was based on Hamas’s existing military infrastructure, and various emissaries smuggled over NIS 2 million toward the purchase of weapons and safe houses.

In June, following the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers, the IDF issued a wide-ranging crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank, arresting hundreds of its members. It remains unclear what the connection is, if any, between the two incidents.