Six Palestinian men from Jerusalem and Hebron have been arrested by Israel’s Shin Bet security agency for allegedly planning to kidnap Israeli settlers.
Shin Bet said the cell was in the advanced stages of preparing to carry out the kidnappings and had prepared places to bury the abductees’ bodies.
The suspects included three men from Hebron and three from Jerusalem, including a young Jerusalemite named Ziad Abu Hadwan, 20, from the Old City.
According to the Shin Bet, Hadwan “returned to operate in the cell after his release from Israeli detention earlier in October last year.”
Cell leader Maher Qawasmi, 36, was arrested in Hebron. Qawasmi has previously spent two and a half years in Israeli prisons.
Shin Bet claimed that Qawasmi held periodic meetings with the cell members and had examined caves and areas in Hebron in order to bury the abductees’ bodies.
The men planned to kidnap Israelis using two vehicles including one driven by Jerusalemite Ammar Rajaby, 22, Shin Bet explained.
The kidnappings were planned in order to create a bargaining tool to insitage negotiations for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
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