Shin Bet says it foiled Hamas plot to use Israeli citizens to smuggle arms into West Bank

The Shin Bet security agency says it has foiled a Hamas plot to smuggle weapons and money into the West Bank using Israeli citizens.

In a statement, the Shin Bet says that in recent weeks, several Israelis from Kafr Qasim and Rahat were arrested by police on suspicion of involvement in “covert” transfers of weapons and funds to the West Bank, on behalf of Ahmad Zarzur, an Israeli citizen living in Turkey who is operating on behalf of the Hamas terror group.

The agency says its investigation revealed a network that operated to smuggle weapons and hundreds of thousands of shekels in funds into the West Bank, “with concerns that these would ultimately reach terror operatives to advance attacks.”

Zarzur, originally from Kafr Qasim, “exploited his family and social ties” in the northern Arab city to establish the smuggling network, the Shin Bet says.

The Shin Bet says that the network would operate by transferring cryptocurrency from Turkey to Israel, which would then be converted to cash using Israeli money changers. The cash would then be used to purchase weapons from arms dealers in the Negev area, which were then smuggled into the West Bank.

Indictments are set to be filed against several suspects in the case, the agency says.

“This is a grave case that exposes how elements in Turkey, including Arab Israelis and citizens through family reunification, exploit their connections in Israel and their access to Judea and Samaria (West Bank) to transfer funds and weapons that may eventually reach terror operatives,” the Shin Bet says.