The Be'er Sheva District Court sentenced Hamas terrorist Muhammad Bahabsa, 28, to 18 years in jail Monday for several counts of terrorist activity, which he admitted to as part of a plea bargain. Bahabsa and another terrorist planned to abduct an Israeli soldier or civilian at about the same time that other Hamas terrorists succeeded in killing two soldiers and abducting a third, Sergeant Gilad Shalit.
Bahabsa, who is from Gaza, and his accomplice, Jawad Abu Sneima, were sent into Israeli territory from Gaza after they had undergone training in the use of an M-16 rifle and a Kalachnikov rifle. The two were to abduct an Israeli man near Ashkelon. They were to bring him to an orchard, use a cellphone to photograph him and then murder him and bury his body.
Hamas planned to use the photographs to negotiate for the release of its prisoners in Israel.
The two terrorists received canisters of tear gas and an ampoule containing a sleep-inducing agent that they were to inject into their victim to render him groggy until they reached the orchard. They were also instructed to scout for good locations for suicide bombings. They were arrested on June 18, 2006, as they tried to cross the border with the aid of local smugglers.
Cell with similar plan caught in December
In December 2009, Israeli security forces caught a Hamas terror cell as its members crossed over from Gaza into Israel. The two-man squad was sent to abduct an Israeli soldier even as negotiations for Gilad Shalit were at their peak.
They, too, intended to abduct a soldier, then murder him and negotiate his return. They were also caught as they tried to cross into Israel.