Terrorists freed in Schalit deal return to terror

Shin Bet: Two terrorists released in Gilad Schalit deal rearrested for trying to commit terrorist acts.

By YAAKOV KATZ
Hamas terrorists 260 (photo credit: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
Hamas terrorists 260
(photo credit: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed Tuesday two cases of Palestinian terrorists who were released in the prisoner swap for Gilad Schalit last year but have since returned to engage in anti-Israel terrorist activity.
In October 2011, Israel released over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in a deal with Hamas which brought Schalit home after five years of captivity in the Gaza Strip.
The first case is Omar Abu Snina, who was released to the Gaza Strip. According to the Shin Bet, Abu Snina – a known Hamas operative – has been working in recent months to recruit Palestinians from the West Bank into Hamas’s ranks.
The Shin Bet said that it obtained a memory card Abu Snina had sent family members in the West Bank which included detailed instructions related to kidnapping soldiers, illegally obtaining weapons and establishing a terrorist cell.
The second case is of Daoud Hilo, a 22-yearold resident of the Amari refugee camp near Ramallah. He was arrested about a month after his release for illegally purchasing weapons. He was convicted in late March and will return to prison for four more years.
Last month, senior IDF officers in the Central Command warned of the growing involvement of Palestinians released in the Schalit exchange in terror activity in the West Bank.
The officers said the IDF had noted a dramatic increase in the smuggling of cash into the West Bank since the beginning of the year and that some of the money was to be used to reestablish terror cells for the 55 Palestinians released to the West Bank under the deal.