Israeli security forces said Wednesday that they arrested 10 members of a Hamas cell in Beita, near Shechem, in Samaria. The men were planning to carry out terror attacks, including a kidnapping, when they were nabbed. One of the suspects reportedly dug a six-foot tunnel beneath his home to hold hostages.

The Shin Bet, police and the IDF issued a joint statement saying that the group had previously carried out bombing attacks against IDF soldiers and were plotting “additional major attacks, including a kidnapping attack against a Jewish resident of the area.” The statement added that the security forces discovered many weapons, including an assault rifle and explosives, with the suspects.

Authorities said that during questioning, the suspects revealed that they had carried out bombing attacks in Judea and Samaria that resulted in injuries to three soldiers, seriously injuring two of them, and had carried out shooting attacks between March and April 2025.

According to the joint statement, the Hamas members “were preparing to carry out additional significant mass-casualty attacks, including plans to execute a kidnapping attack.”

“As part of the planning for the kidnapping attack, the cell members conducted surveillance on a local resident they intended to abduct,” the statement added. “However, due to the understanding that they would have difficulty carrying out the attack, it was ultimately not executed.”

The suspects were charged at the Samaria Military Court. Some of them face the charge of “attempting to intentionally cause death,” the equivalent of attempted murder in military law, and attempted kidnapping.