GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel has been increasingly accusing Hamas of trying to ignite the West Bank after Israel said Aug. 6 that it had foiled a bombing attempt that a Hamas cell was planning to execute in Jerusalem. The body of an off-duty Israeli soldier who was stabbed to death was also found near Bethlehem in the southern part of the West Bank on Aug. 8. Israel accused the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip of giving orders to carry out the attack.
No Palestinian party claimed responsibility for the soldier’s killing, although most Palestinian factions praised the attack in separate statements Aug. 8. Israel said the attack was aimed at abducting the soldier. Israeli army forces were deployed in the south of the West Bank and carried out an extensive search for the culprits.
Two Palestinian cousins were arrested in the slaying Aug. 10 in the village of Beit Kahil near where the killing took place; the Israel Defense Forces said one of the cousins is a Hamas member.
The Shin Bet is reported to have foiled 300 attacks from the start of this year until August and the attacks were based on orders from the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, which wrote Aug. 9 that some of the foiled attacks were aimed at abducting Israelis.
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