​(Communicated by the ISA)
 
The following has been cleared for publication:
 
Hamas militant Malik Nazar Yusef Kazmar, born in 1994, originally from the Kalkilya area, was arrested, on 26 February 2017, in a joint Israel Security Agency (ISA)-IDF operation on suspicion of having been recruited by the Hamas command abroad and instructed to advance terrorist actions inside the State of Israel.
 
In his ISA investigation, it was learned that Kazmar, who lived in Turkish Cyprus in recent years, was recruited by Hamas in August 2015 while he was in Jordan. In January 2016, he was sent to a military camp in Syria where he underwent firearms training and was instructed in the manufacture of IEDs.
 
In January 2017, shortly before his returned to Judea and Samaria, Kazmar met in Istanbul with Hamas militants who directed him to recruit additional members inside the State of Israel. Kazmar was arrested upon his return to Judea and Samaria before he was able to carry out his instructions
 
During his investigation, Kazmar handed over a memory card that he had received from his handlers in Turkey and which was loaded with encrypted material including extensive security instructions and information designed to aid him in his mission.
 
Kazmar was indicted in the Samaria Military Court on 30 March 2017 for a variety of severe security offenses.
 
The foregoing underscores the activity of Hamas' overseas headquarters, including on Turkish soil, at the behest of Saleh Arouri, the head of the organizations 'West Bank Office'.
 
The Hamas leadership continues to make use of militants returning to Judea and Samaria in order to perpetrate acts of terrorism, even as its senior figures operate unhindered in various countries.