JNS.org– Israel’s Shin Bet Israel security agency on Monday announced the arrest of nearly a dozen members of a Hamas terror cell in Hebron. The terrorists were planning attacks on multiple targets, including a failed attack on Israel Defense Forces soldiers and suicide bombings.

A total of 11 Palestinian terrorist suspects were arrested by the Shin Bet, including lead suspects Sahaib Mamun Saltan, 20, from Hebron, and his cousin Salam Abbas Saltan, 28, a Hamas terrorist operative who recently served a term in an Israeli jail. A number of explosive devices and weapons were found during the arrest, which took place in January but was not announced until Monday.

According to the Shin Bet, the two lead suspects admitted that they attempted a terror attack in December 2014 in the Jewish town of Tel Rumeida near Hebron. The terrorists planned to detonate a small explosive device to draw IDF soldiers in, and then to detonate a larger device. But the bombs failed to explode due to a technical glitch, the suspects said.

The Palestinian terrorists also collected intelligence on possible targets in Hebron and Jerusalem, with a number of the cell’s members expressing a willingness to be suicide bombers.