BICOM

Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency announced yesterday that it has arrested 40 Palestinians on suspicion of establishing a Hamas headquarters in the West Bank city of Nablus.

According to the Shin Bet, “This case reveals once again the intense efforts made by Hamas leadership, here and abroad, to establish a widespread organizational infrastructure, with a stable and continuous budget, that will enable it to sustain independent activity” in the West Bank, whose Palestinian areas are controlled by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Those arrested include Ghanem Salme and Samih Aliwi, who the Shin Bet regard as top Hamas operatives in Nablus. Aliwi was reportedly responsible for financing the cell, using his gold shop to launder funds.

The Shin Bet said that the cell “intended to strengthen Hamas’s hold in the area and prepare the groundwork for the day it can resume terror attacks.” Apparently, the cell was aided by Hamas spokesman Husam Ali Badran, who is exiled in Qatar. The Shin Bet believes that Badran is working under the command of Saleh Aruri, who is based in Turkey, but oversees Hamas operations in the West Bank. Earlier this week, Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that attempts by Hamas to resume activity in the West Bank is spearheaded by “the overseas faction operating from Istanbul, Turkey, after moving there from Damascus.”

During recent weeks, there has been a spike in the number of terror attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem. On Monday evening, one Israeli man was killed and three others were injured after the car they were travelling in came under gunfire in the West Bank. The attack happened not far from the spot at which 25-year-old Danny Gonen was shot and killed last month by a gunman as he returned from hiking with a friend near the West Bank settlement of Dolev. The attacks have led to speculation of a coordinated terror campaign, especially in the northern West Bank.