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Shin Bet uncovers Hamas plot to overthrow PA in West Bank

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Israel’s Shin Bet security agency yesterday announced that it had uncovered a Hamas plan to usurp the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank, prompting PA President Mahmoud Abbas to call for an investigation.

The Shin Bet said that it had arrested more than 90 Hamas operatives in May and June, confiscated dozens of weapons which had been smuggled into the West Bank, and seized more than £100,000 aimed at funding attacks. The plot was apparently masterminded by senior Hamas leader Salah al-Aruri, who is based in Turkey. Cells had been established in 46 Palestinian towns and villages including Jenin, Nablus, East Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Hebron. Many cell members were chemistry and engineering students recruited especially.

According to the Shin Bet, al-Aruri had aimed to carry out a string of attacks on Israel, foment violence on the Temple Mount and use the instability to carry out a military coup, overthrowing the government of PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Apparently, Hamas’s political leader Khaled Mashaal was aware of the plot. A Shin Bet statement said, “The discovery of the infrastructure attests to the great danger posed by Hamas’ headquarters abroad given its strategic plan to collapse the Palestinian Authority.”

The PA and Hamas had been at loggerheads ever since Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas’s Fatah faction in 2007. However, in June, Abbas announced that a Palestinian unity government had been formed with the support of both Fatah and Hamas and a rapprochement appeared to have been achieved. Although both are part of a joint Palestinian delegation currently negotiating a Gaza ceasefire with Israel, Abbas has not explicitly supported Hamas during Operation Defensive Edge.

According to the Palestinian Wafa news agency, Abbas reacted with great concern to the Shin Bet revelations. He has apparently ordered an investigation and said the Hamas plan represents “a grave threat to the unity of the Palestinian people and its future,” warning of “extremely dangerous” regional implications.