Home in Ma’ale Adummim Settlement in Judea and Samaria region. Illustrative. Photo by Joshua Spurlock.
A Hamas suicide-bombing recruit who had scouted out targets and purchased a vehicle for an attack planned for or around Election Day in Israel was arrested last month thanks to efforts by the Israel Security Agency (ISA) and the IDF. The terrorist—23-year-old Yehiye Abu Dia—was recruited by senior Hamas operatives from Gaza via the internet and was told to target the Ma’ale Adumim community near Jerusalem in Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank. An ISA press release noted that Hamas told Abu Dia to “monitor the best site for the attack” where “there would be a high concentration of buses, civilians and soldiers.”
While Hamas is based in Gaza, an ISA official noted the plot shows the terror group’s ongoing effort to launch terror attacks in the Biblical heartland of Israel.
“The Hamas terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is constantly working to recruit Hamas operatives from the Judea and Samaria to carry out murderous terror attacks in order to undermine the security and stability of the area,” a senior ISA official said in the press release.
“This activity by the Hamas military wing joins a long list of attempted attacks in recent years directed by Hamas in the Gaza Strip through militants recruited in Judea and Samaria that have been foiled by the ISA and which have led to many people being imprisoned. The ISA and the security forces will continue anti-terrorism operations against Hamas.”
Hamas had selected an attack site following Abu Dia’s scouting and instructed Abu Dia to “carry out the attack quickly,” noted the ISA press release. Emphasizing the earnestness of the impending strike, Abu Dia had even purchased a tripod for filming himself reading his will before launching his suicide attack.
Hamas has long used suicide bombings as a terrorist weapon, including ample use of them during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, April 28, 2019)