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Israeli forces arrest Hamas cells in West Bank

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Israel’s Shin Bet security agency announced yesterday that several Hamas cells in the West Bank have been uncovered and apprehended during the past several weeks.

Five men from the village of Bidu, near the West Bank were arrested on suspicion of having carried out several attacks in the Har Adar and Ma’aleh Hamisha area in the Jerusalem Hills. They are thought to have thrown firebombs and placed explosive devices, targeting IDF forces. In addition, the cell is thought to have been involved in a shooting in the area in 2015.

The Shin Bet statement said that “members of the cell planned to commit additional shooting attacks”.

The statement also detailed the arrest of two Hamas members, who were planning “to carry out a shooting attack against civilian and IDF vehicles on main roads” in the Hebron area. The suspects arrested were named as 20-year-old Muhammad Azi from Jamain and 22-year-old Nur Aldin Ghait from Hebron. The Shin Bet revealed that Azi had already acquired a weapon for the attack.

Also yesterday, Palestinian Authority (PA) forces clashed with protestors in Ramallah and Bethlehem, who were demonstrating over PA security cooperation with Israel.

The protests were sparked after 31-year-old Basel al-Araj was killed last week after he opened fire at Israeli soldiers attempting to arrest him. Al-Araj and five others were all imprisoned by the PA last year for weapons possession and planning an attack on Israel. They were eventually released after a hunger strike, but al-Araj went into hiding.

The Ma’an news agency said that 11 protestors were injured, after PA forces used tear gas and beat demonstrators with batons. A PA police spokesman told the Wafa news agency that police “treated the [protesters] with force, in accordance with the law”.