In recent weeks, the Shin Bet security service uncovered at least three Hamas terror cells in the West Bank and East Jerusalem that were planning to attack Israelis with guns and explosives. The arrests and indictments that followed raised the specter of suicide attacks, shootings and kidnappings.

Taken together with the repeated declarations of senior Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip, the group’s intent seems clear: Some leaders want to turn the violent attacks that have been happening in the West Bank since October into a full-blown intifada, which could have far-reaching consequences for the Gaza Strip as well.

To date, Israel and Palestinian Authority security forces have succeeded in scuttling most of Hamas’ schemes. The violence in the West Bank and within Israel continues to be characterized by stabbings and car-ramming attacks. Even the occasional shootings – like the one perpetrated by Nashat Melhem that killed three people in Tel Aviv on New Year’s Day – have not been the work of terror organizations, but acts by lone wolf attackers.

If, however, Hamas cells in the West Bank succeed in pulling off a large attack, it could affect what happens on the Gaza border: Israeli security forces on the border have been trying to outwit Hamas, which has resumed digging attack tunnels toward the Israeli border.

Read the article in full at Haaretz.