Israel Says Foiled Islamist Attacks in West Bank

Israel's Shin Bet domestic spy agency said on Tuesday it had foiled planned attacks on Israelis by two Palestinian Islamist groups in the Hebron area.

It said that, in March, Shin Bet, army and police uncovered a nine-man Hamas cell in the village of Bani Naim, south of the West Bank city, which planned to shoot dead an Israeli settler working in nearby fields.

A statement said the men intended to take the victim's corpse as a bargaining chip to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

It said they also had prepared an explosive device which they intended to place in a settlement field.

Separately, in March and April, agents arrested four Islamic Jihad militants in Hebron who planned to shoot dead an Israeli soldier or civilian traveling in the area.

They confessed under interrogation that they also intended to hold the body to lever a swap, the statement said, without saying explicitly that the two plots were connected.

All the suspects were charged last month in a military court, it added.

In the past, Israel has traded large numbers of prisoners for abducted civilians or the bodies of soldiers.

Under a landmark deal between Israel and Hamas, soldier Gilad Shalit was freed in October 2011 in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners after being held in Hamas captivity in Gaza for more than five years.

It was the first time in 26 years that a captured soldier has been returned to Israel alive.