Members of 13 Hamas cells operating in the West Bank including some with ties to Syria who were plotting attacks against Israel have been arrested. Israel's Security Agency (Shin Bet) released details of their arrests on Wednesday culminating an operation in which scores were arrested and a number of suicide attacks inside Israel thwarted. One of the cells was responsible for the bomb attack at a Jerusalem bus stop opposite the International Convention Center in March in which a British tourist was killed and scores injured, the Shin Bet said. A senior Shin Bet official said the wave of arrests indicate the extent Hamas has gone to build up its presence in the West Bank and concentrate its efforts to launch attacks against Israel. Not only Palestinians but some Arabs with Israeli identity cards were members of the cells. Some of the attacks thwarted due to the arrests of cell members include a planned suicide bomb attack at the Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev. The attack was averted after Israeli security officials arrested east Jerusalem resident Azhak Arrata at his Ras al-Amud home. Arrata who holds an Israeli identity card admitted to being involved in the bomb attack in Jerusalem in March and said he had also planned to abduct Israeli citizens. His arrest led to the capture of the would be suicide bomber Said Qawasmeh from Hebron, security officials said. The two revealed that Hamas officials in Damascus transferred funds to the West Bank via a courier and also sent directives for future attacks against Israeli targets. Israel Police and Shin Bet arrested the courier a Jordanian national with a Palestinian identity card as he attempted to return to Jordan.
