Some 50 members of a Hamas network in the Bethlehem area of the West Bank were detained in a series of recent operations, the Shin Bet security agency announced on Thursday, saying they were planning to carry out imminent shooting attacks.
The security agency said that in cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Police, it detained the members of the Hamas network in recent weeks during 15 or so separate arrest raids.
Several weapons used by the Hamas operatives, including an assault rifle, were also captured, the agency’s statement said.
According to the Shin Bet, the suspects’ interrogations revealed that the leaders of the Hamas network recruited and set up terror cells, procured weapons and planned to carry out shootings against Israeli security forces and civilians.
“One of the terror cells was at an advanced stage of readiness to carry out attacks in the immediate term,” the agency said.
The Shin Bet said the arrests of the Hamas operatives “prevented major shooting and bombing attacks that could have resulted in significant [casualties]” among troops and civilians.
IDF troops detain members of an alleged Hamas network in the Bethlehem area, in footage issued by the military on November 13, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
The investigation materials have been handed over to Military Prosecution to charge the suspects, the Shin Bet added.
In June, the Shin Bet announced that it had arrested over 60 Hamas operatives over the previous several months in one of the largest crackdowns on a West Bank terror network in recent years.
Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas led a devastating invasion of southern Israel from the Gaza Strip that triggered the ongoing war in the enclave, troops have arrested thousands of Palestinians across the West Bank, many of them Hamas members.
Weapons seized by IDF troops from members of an alleged Hamas network in the Bethlehem area, in a handout photo issued by the military on November 13, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, around 1,000 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 62 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes during raids in Palestinian cities.
Meanwhile, in recent weeks, there has been a rise in attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, coinciding with the annual olive harvest.
According to records kept by Israeli defense authorities, there have been 704 incidents of “nationalistic crime” since the beginning of the year, compared with 675 in all of 2024.
At the same time, the number of police investigations into Jewish nationalist violence in the West Bank has sharply declined over the past three years under National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, according to a Channel 12 news report.
Under Ben Gvir, there has been a 73% decline in the number of investigations opened since 2023, according to the outlet. Police have opened only 60 investigations into settler violence this year, compared to 150 cases in 2024 and 235 cases in 2023, despite the number of attacks rising over that period.
