Israel claims to break up Hamas 'cell' in West Bank

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, claims to have thwarted attempts by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas to set up “cells” in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

“Hamas had tasked operatives in Judea and Samaria with setting up a terror network in hopes of carrying out terror attacks inside Israel,” Shin Bet, using a Jewish term for the West Bank, said in a statement.

The security agency went on to allege that the operatives had been taught “how to make explosives and select targets”.

Hamas, for its part, which has governed the blockaded Gaza Strip since 2007, has yet to comment on the agency’s claims.