Israel’s Security Agency said it has arrested members of a Hamas terror cell involved in the deadly shooting of an Israeli policeman last month in the southern Hebron Hills. One of the cell members told investigators days before the attack he visited his six year old daughter who underwent surgery in an Israeli hospital and the expenses paid for by an Israeli charity organization.
Members of a Hamas military wing involved in the fatal shooting of Israeli policeman Shuki Sofer and the wounding of two others in a terrorist shooting last month near Hebron, have been arrested, Israel’s Security Agency said.
Sofer was killed and two other policemen were wounded when shots were fired at their car on Road 60 near the Israeli community of Otniel in the southern Hebron Hills on June 14.
One of the terrorists arrested a week after Sofer’s murder, told investigators days before launching the attack, he had spent at the bedside of his six-year-old daughter, hospitalized in Israel’s Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem after undergoing surgery to remove a growth in her eye. The surgery was paid for by an Israeli charity organization.
According to the Shin Bet, the cell members also planned to kidnap Israeli soldiers and civilians in the Gush Etzion area, and in preparation for the kidnapping had purchased hair wigs they planned to wear during the attack..
Details released by the Shin Bet Monday said security forces arrested a number of members of Hamas military wing, all in their Twenties, in Kafr Dir Tsamet near Beit Lahish. Several were incarcerated in Israel in the past for Hamas activities, the agency said.
The Shin Bet said details gleaned from investigations of the suspects revealed that a Hamas cell was established several years ago to launch terror attacks against Israeli targets, and operatives stockpiled weapons to be used in the attacks, hiding them in the mountains. Israeli officials said three Kalashnikov rifles used in the shooting attack were confiscated by police.
Members of the Hamas cell began training last year in preparation for the attacks, and in the first quarter of this year plotted to attack Israelis traveling on Road 60, and opted to target Israeli Police who traveled daily on the road.
According to the Shin Bet on the day of the shooting, three operatives drove in a car to the scene of the attack where they took up positions, and a fourth operative stood watch to alert them if IDF troops were approaching the scene.
They opened fire at the police car Sofer was riding in north of Otniel, and fled the scene in a car which they later set fire to in an effort to hide their tracks.A fifth member who was aware of the attack the three carried out assisted them to hide the weapons used to shoot the policemen. |
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