An IDF patrol. Photo: Twitter.

JNS.org – Israeli authorities arrested six Hamas terrorist operatives in Qalqilya who were suspected to have planned attacks in Judea and Samaria.

A gag order on the details of the recent counter-terrorism operation, which was led by Shin Bet security agency, was lifted Sunday. The six-member cell had dozens of kilograms of sulfur and 25 grams of mercury fulminate. Both substances are commonly used in improvised explosive devices.

Several of the Hamas suspects said they were recruited by Hamas’s Jordanian headquarters when they visited the Hashemite kingdom. They later underwent military training in Gaza before being sent to Samaria to proceed with the attacks and recruit additional members. The cell apparently used an apartment in Nablus’s city center as an explosives lab.

The cell was told to perpetrate terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria during Operation Protective Edge last summer. Shin Bet officials said the cell’s activity shows how motivated Hamas’s foreign headquarters are when it comes to training terrorist cells and dispatching them to Judea and Samaria.