Dozens of suspected Hamas terrorists were arrested and arrested for being in Israel illegally in a shock raid on a village on the West Bank border.
Israel’s Shin Bet security service worked with the Magav border force to arrest 52 Hamas members at several locations in Barta’a, a small town between Israel and the West Bank.
Dramatic images show armed officers bursting through the front door of a building on the Palestinian side of Barta’a and climbing stairs to reach the terrorists.
Other images show around a dozen Hamas members lying face down with their hands on their heads while an armed officer stands over them.
Armed Magev and Shin Bet officers arrested 52 Hamas members in Barta’a
During the raid, Hamas terrorists were seen lying face down with their hands on their heads
The terrorists were blindfolded and taken away from Barta’a by armed officers
The men were put on a bus and taken to a Shin Bet-run location where they were interrogated
The group of men is then immobilized, blindfolded and made to wait in a kneeling position in another room.
The terrorists are then seen being led through the streets of Barta’a before being taken onto a bus.
The terrorists were taken to a Shin Bet-run location for “further investigation” after they were arrested and accused of not having the necessary permits to enter Israel.
The information that led to the major operation came from the Shin Bet security service.
The arrests came after Hamas released disturbing new hostage videos of a 13-year-old boy and an elderly woman kidnapped during the storming of their kibbutz on October 7.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group has now released its first “signs of life” videos from each of the prisoners. The hostages look emaciated and exhausted as they speak to the camera.
Officers stormed a building in Barta’a, which lies on the border between Israel and the West Bank
The terrorists marched through the streets of Barta’a
They were tied with cable ties and blindfolded before being forced to kneel
Armed officers attacked several locations in the small border town
Both sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and blamed him for the current situation. It’s not clear if they’re reading from a script.
The PIJ – which is allied with but separate from Hamas – released another video claiming it was ready to release the couple on “humanitarian and medical grounds” but only if “appropriate measures” were taken .
Israel has condemned it as psychological warfare and refused to respond to PIJ claims that it would soon release hostages.
“This is a sign of life and it is important,” Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said when asked about the videos.
“I will ignore the issue of their release for now… We will be the first to update the families before anything happens.”