Windshield smashed by terrorists
Windshield smashed by terroristsIsrael news photo by Shomron Regional Council

Security agents have cracked a terrorist cell that roamed Judea and Samaria and failed several times to kidnap residents, especially women.

The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) broke a gag order Sunday, two months after the arrest of nine terrorists, whose commander is from the area of Ramallah, headquarters of the Palestinian Authority.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) cell planned to post a video on the Internet after a kidnapping in order to negotiate for the release of jailed terrorists. The cell planned to stage the attacks with stun guns and tear gas.

They used the method of faking a disabled vehicle or of simply blocking two-lane highways in Judea and Samaria. Most of the attempted kidnaps were reported by Arutz Sheva but they were mostly overlooked by mainstream media.

On March 11, the terrorists tried to pull an Israeli driver from his car near Kiryat Sefer, located next to Modiin between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, but the motorist was able to escape.

The following day, the terrorists blocked a road and tied to smash the windshield of a vehicle that was forced to stop. The motorist, realizing she was falling into a trap, stepped on the gas pedal and barely found a way to get past the roadblock.

The cell continued to prowl Judea and Samaria, and three days later, around midnight on March 15, they again blocked a car driven by a woman, whose baby was riding with her. The terrorists smashed her windshield, but she was saved when another Israeli vehicle arrived on the scene.

Two people narrowly escaped the would-be kidnappers’ clutches when they were hitchhiking. One of the hitchhikers started to accept the ride when the terrorist stopped but changed his mind at the behest of his friend, who realized the danger.

Security officials said that the repeated attempts to kidnap Israelis represent the high motivation of terrorists to abduct civilians, a tactic that Hamas and other terrorist groups have intensively promoted since Israel freed more than 1,000 terrorists and security prisoners in return for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit last year.