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Itongadol.- Amid a wave of lone wolf terror attacks that has plagued Israel over the past three months, Hamas has decided to renew military activities against the Jewish state, including suicide bombings, Beirut-based daily Al-Akhbar reported on Thursday.
"Hamas sleeper cells have received orders to strike targets inside occupied Palestine," Al-Akhbar quoted Hamas sources as saying.
According to the report, Israel is aware of the new Hamas directives, and a terror cell authorities arrested in Abu Dis earlier this month had intended to implement the new orders on the ground.
The Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency announced last week that it captured a large-scale Hamas terrorist cell based in the Abu Dis area near Jerusalem that had been plotting bombings and suicide-bombing attacks in Israel and the territories.
Had the attacks not been thwarted, they could have led to mass-casualty attacks and dangerously escalated the security situation, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) warned in a statement.
Al Akhbar quoted Hamas officials as saying the cell had planned to carry out attacks not only in the West Bank, but within the Green Line. The officials said that the group had been caught when one of its operatives asked a member of the Palestinian Authority security services to provide the cell with forged documents.
Al Akhbar quoted a Hamas leader as saying that "the list of intended targets include Israeli political and security figures."
Despite the cell being apprehended, Hamas will continue in its attempts to carry out operations against Israel, the official said. He added that the group\’s preference is for Hamas operatives "to return to their bases safely after carrying out operations, but we will not rule out martyrdom (suicide) operations."
The official said that the group would focus on planting explosive devices to target members of the IDF and police.