By the Tower staff writers
Hamas
was plotting to start a third intifada and overthrow the Palestinian
Authority in the West Bank according to information just cleared for
public release by the Shin Bet and the IDF.
The end goal was to destabilize the Palestinian territories and use the instability to carry out a military coup, overthrowing the government of PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
The Hamas infrastructure relied on support from cells in neighboring Jordan, and on couriers who delivered terrorist finances, totaling at least two million shekels, which were used to purchase weapons and homes that were used as hideouts, according to the investigation.
The
Shin Bet said that the investigation began in May during which time
Israel has arrested over 90 suspects and is planning to indict 70 of
them. The center of the investigation is Riad Nasser who was appointed
by Turkey based Hamas operative, Saleh al-Arouri to lead the effort.
The plot was spread across 46 Palestinian cities and villages and was centered in Ramallah.
"This infrastructure stretched from Jenin in the north to Hebron in the south. It is one the biggest we've seen in Judea and Samaria since Hamas's formation in 1987," a senior Shin Bet source, responsible for securing the Jerusalem district, told reporters on Monday. "They planned to carry out a coup and topple the Palestinian Authority," he added.
Palestinian engineering and chemistry students were recruited for the operation. One of the most notable detainees holds a doctorate in computer science – he was recruited in Malaysia and trained in encryption and cyber-attacks.
"The discovery of the infrastructure attests to the great danger posed by Hamas' headquarters abroad given its strategic plan to collapse the Palestinian Authority," said the Shin Bet.
At the end of May, the Shin Bet arrested Mahmoud Toameh a
leading financier of Hamas' operations. At the time of his arrest
Toameh explained to authorities how Hamas "funds its activities,
especially in the absence of funding from Iran." Toameh admitted that
Hamas used "real estate deals as a means of transferring money from
abroad."
Discovery
of this plot confirms fears that Hamas, in agreeing to a unity
government with Fatah, was seeking to emulate the "Hezbollah model" in
the West Bank as Ha'aretz reported in May,
"A Hamas source has said the model being planned for the new
Palestinian unity government is that of Hezbollah in Lebanon, in which
the organization is a government party that has shed responsibility for
routine matters but maintains an independent military."
Reposted courtesy of The Tower
2 comments:
You really have to do an analysis of what this attempted coup means.
1. What is an agreement with Abbas worth?
2. Only the IDF presence in Judea & Samaria keeps Abbas in power.
3. Any sovereign Palestinian state in ANY part of Judea & Samaria would become another Hamastan.
4. Israeli Leftist morons like Livni, Lapid, & Herzog who have no political capital except Abbas & the peace BS are hanging in the wind.
5. Abbas knew about this weeks ago but is now blaming Israel for making it public.
6. What does this say about American diplomacy?
Hi (Terry?)
You realize that I didn't write this, but I'll give you a short analysis right here.
There's no upside whatsoever keeping Abbas in power, and not only are agreements with him worthless, they won't be forth coming anyway nor would he keep them if they were.
Don't ask me about American diplomacy. You wouldn't like my answer.Mostly, it's designed to undercut Netanyahu and try to bring Livni or Herzog to power.
I would have said you'll have elections after Rosh Hashonah and High Holidays, but now I think it will be delayed until after the Gaza war, however that concludes.
Zeh mah yesh, Habibi!
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