Israel arrests dozens of Hamas militants

Shin Bet security service says detainees will be indicted in an Israeli military court soon Shin Bet’s announcement followed the shooting of a colonist on Monday, though his killing was not claimed by any faction and Israeli officials said it looked like

Israeli forces have arrested dozens of Hamas members suspected of planning attacks and trying to build up the Palestinian militant group in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s Shin Bet security service said yesterday.

The Islamist group dismissed the accusations against its members, saying Israel was just trying to sabotage its relationship with other Arab powers.

Shin Bet’s announcement followed the roadside shooting of a Jewish colonist on Monday, though his killing was not claimed by any faction and Israeli officials said it looked like an attack by a lone Palestinian.

Around 40 Hamas members, some of them senior, were detained around the city of Nablus in recent months on suspicion of “working to renew Hamas activity in Samaria [northern West Bank], including through preparing the groundwork for terrorist activity,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.

It said the detained militants had received instruction from Hassan Badran, a Hamas spokesman in Qatar, as well as funds that were “laundered” through a gold dealer active in Jordan.

Hamas, which controls the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip, has been regularly accused of trying to take over the West Bank, controlled by the US-backed administration of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas said yesterday it was committed to holy war against Israel. “But at the same time we deny any connection between the brother Hussam Badran and resistance in the West Bank,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

Shin Bet said the detainees would be indicted in an Israeli military court soon. There was no information on how the Hamas suspects might plead in court.

Briefing Israeli lawmakers on Tuesday, Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen gave a mixed assessment of Hamas.

Since last year’s Gaza war Hamas has been in “strategic distress” and “currently has no willingness to take action against Israel” even though it is arming itself for the next conflict, Cohen said, according to a parliamentary spokesman.