Watch: Israel nabs dozens of Hamas men in overnight raid in West Bank

The raids were carried out jointly by the Shin Bet, IDF, and Israel Police.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Israel nabs dozens of Hamas men in overnight raid in West Bank in Feb. 2015
Security forces arrested 29 Hamas members in the Nablus area of the West Bank overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, the Shin Bet said.
The raids were carried out jointly by the Shin Bet, IDF, and Israel Police. They targeted, among others, senior Hamas members and former prisoners who became active again in Hamas activity.
Security forces said the arrests came in response to a rise in Hamas activity in Nablus focused around the goal of trying to carry out terror attacks against Israel.
The suspects "were funded and orchestrated by a Hamas overseas headquarters. They have been taken for questioning," the Shin Bet added.
The raids took place one day after the Shin Bet announced that security forces uncovered a Hamas cell that planned to carry out a shooting attack against military forces this past Purim.
The cell’s members – who came from the town of Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem – purchased a vehicle and underwent firearms training, while also gathering intelligence on targets, the Shin Bet said.
“They were arrested before they were able to carry out the attack. We have seized firearms in the course of the investigation,” the security agency stated.
One of the suspects arrested at the start of March was named as Ma’an Sa’ar, the alleged head of the cell. Sa’ar, from the northern West Bank village of Burka, worked at the Abu Dis University cafeteria. A Hamas member, he served a prison sentence from 2009 to 2011 for his involvement in a shooting attack on the IDF.