A series of armed operations took place in the West Bank in recent weeks, killing and injuring a number of Israelis. Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility July 1 for some of the attacks, in which no Palestinians were injured.
Also on July 1, the Israeli security service Shin Bet announced it had arrested 40 Hamas activists in the northern West Bank in recent months who had sought to establish military cells to carry out operations against Israelis. It accuses Husam Badran, Hamas' spokesman in Qatar, of leading, funding and guiding the activists, and sending them hundreds of thousands of dollars. Badran is a former commander of al-Qassam Brigades in the northern West Bank.