The Shin Bet has revealed that it, together with the IDF and the Jerusalem Regional Unit in the Israel Police Force, has been leading an intelligence effort that led to the discovery of a phenomenon that began before the war, in which Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip used Jewish Israeli citizens, without their knowledge, to transfer packages.
The assumed goal of the activity was to train them to assist in transferring explosives and weapons to be used in terror attacks against targets in Israel.
The activity was carried out by terrorists in what is referred to as the "Work Department" of the "West Bank Headquarters" - a Hamas body in Gaza led by and consisting mostly of terrorists who originated in Judea and Samaria and were released to Gaza during the Shalit deal. This department is entrusted with directing terror attacks in Judea and Samaria and other parts of Israel.
In the past month, as part of the intelligence efforts, IDF and Shin Bet forces raided the department's office in the Gaza Strip. They located computers and documents containing information about the terrorist infrastructure that operated against Israel before the war.
One of the documents found by the IDF and Shin Bet in the Hamas department's office in Gaza, reveals information regarding between Hamas terrorists in the Strip and Jews from the Jerusalem region during September 2023, and delivery tasks that Hamas terrorists asked them to do in Israeli territory.
Later, information was discovered about additional Jews who were in contact with fictitious Facebook profiles which were run by terrorists of the "West Bank Headquarters" who were impersonating Israelis living abroad and looking for couriers to carry out various tasks in Israel for pay.
The profiles run by terrorists impersonated both men and women who published posts searching for couriers in various areas of Israel to Facebook groups that deal with deliveries. After making contact through Facebook, the communication between the Jewish couriers and Hamas continued on the WhatsApp messaging app. The terrorists refused to conduct telephone calls so as not to reveal their identities.
As part of their operation, the Israelis were asked to carry out tasks including deliveries, receiving money, purchasing gifts, and leaving them in various locations, without coordinating with the recipient. Among the locations where they were asked to leave the deliveries were a synagogue, cemetery, the in front of various private homes across Israel.
Based on the familiarity with the "West Bank Headquarters'" modus operandi, the assumption is that the training of Israelis to carry out various deliveries was meant to make them susceptible to be used for deliveries of closed packages containing weapons or explosives to terrorists in Israel, or, alternatively, to leave them at Israeli military or private targets.
Some of the profiles and conversations on Facebook:
