The Palestinian Authority said it has exposed a plot by Hamas to carry out a string of terror attacks against the Authority's officials and institutions in the West Bank city of Nablus and the surrounding area.
PA officials said Monday evening that a Hamas member who was recently detained admitted to receiving 1.5 million euros from the Islamist group's leadership in Gaza in order to establish infrastructure aimed of undermining President Mahmoud Abbas' regime. He said that among the targets were headquarters of the Palestinian security services in Nablus.
According to a Palestinian security source, the Hamas member, Wajia Abu Aidi, led officers from the Preventive Security Service to the stashed money, which he had hidden underneath the bathtub in his home.
The source told Ynet that the money was earmarked for Hamas' military activities in Nablus.
Over the past few months the PA has increased its efforts to thwart Hamas' activity in the West Bank, mainly by blocking the transfer of funds from Gaza.
The PA fears that in case the reconciliation talks with Hamas fail and the peace negotiations with Israel are resumed, Hamas will try to destabilize the West Bank with a series of terror attacks, mainly against PA officials and bodies the Islamist group accuses of "persecuting" its members in the West Bank.
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