The IDF, Israel Police and Shin Bet have foiled another attempt by the Gaza-based Hamas terror organization to build a new headquarters in Judea and Samaria.
In a joint operation carried out in the Palestinian Authority city of Qalkilya, Israeli security personnel arrested 24 Hamas terrorists, including some very senior officials. More than NIS 35,000 was also recovered in the overnight raid.
The newly-established regional headquarters received wide-scale funding, guidance and orders from Hamas in Qatar and Gaza.
Operatives working in the new headquarters carried out assignments aimed at renewing terrorist activities in Qalkilya and the surrounding villages.
This is not the first time Hamas has attempted to set up regional headquarters in Judea and Samaria, nor the first time such efforts have been funded with monies from Gaza and foreign entities. Thus far, Israeli intelligence has successfully detected and dismantled the attempts each time.
In June of this year, the IDF, Israel Police and Shin Bet uncovered a mammoth Hamas terror cell in the Samaria city of Shechem to lay the groundwork to launch a parallel shadow government for an eventual takeover of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and to ignite a spate of new terror attacks.
Approximately 40 operatives were arrested in the sting, including senior Hamas members who have been previously incarcerated.