Shin Bet accuses Hamas of enlisting minors to carry out attacks, kidnappings

The Shin Bet security service accuses the Hamas terror group of recruiting minors to carry out attacks on Israeli targets, saying it recently arrested two such suspects.

“The investigation determined that the minors were recruited through an online network to advance terrorist activities by Hamas officials from the [Gaza] Strip,” the security agency says.

According to the Shin Bet, the underage suspects were arrested in October but details of the case were barred from publication until they were indicted earlier this month.

The suspects told interrogators that they had planned to kidnap an Israeli citizen from a settlement near their village. They had also been instructed to carry out a variety of missions on behalf of Hamas, including gathering intelligence on nearby Israeli settlements and carrying out shooting attacks, the Shin Bet says.

— Judah Ari Gross