Fighters of the Hamas Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Photo: Wikipedia.

Hamas criticized the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Monday for coordinating with Israel, after the PA arrested three suspected terrorists prior to an imminent attack targeting Israelis. “The cooperation between the PA and Israel in arresting the three fighters is a serious escalation in the coordination between them,” said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.

Hamas official Hussan Badran also denounced the arrest and claimed that “the leadership of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah are working openly to thwart the popular uprising.”

Over the weekend, PA security forces arrested three suspected Hamas operatives west of Ramallah. The terrorists, who were missing since March 30, were found in possession of a large quantity of weapons, including hand grenades and a submachine gun.

The terrorists’ families filed a report with the PA security forces after the three men vacated their shared Ramallah apartment and got rid of their cell phones, ID cards, and laptops.

One of the terrorists, 23-year-old Muhammad Harb, sent a text message to his mother: “I want to be alone for a week or two. I might deactivate my Facebook account. Don’t worry.”

These developments indicate that Hamas is continuing efforts to expand its base of terrorist operations in the West Bank. The terrorist organization is also actively seeking to reinvigorate and hijack the recent popular wave of Palestinian terrorism targeting Israelis, which has largely remained in the realm of individual initiatives.

While PA security forces are reportedly credited with foiling several Palestinian terrorist plots, senior political Fatah and PA officials — including President Mahmoud Abbas — engage in active violent incitement against Jews and Israelis. Increased Palestinian incitement and glorification of terrorism from across the Palestinian political spectrum largely fueled the latest popular uprising.

Steven Emerson is the Executive Director the Investigative Project on Terrorism (www.investigativeproject.org) where this article first appeared.