Cleared for publication: The Shin Bet, in a joint operation with the police, has been successful in thwarting an abduction plot by a terror cell based in Hizma, a Palestinian village just north of Jerusalem.

The cell's leader, Rajib Musa Salah Salah al-Din, has a known affiliation with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( PFLP ).

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According to available information, the cell planned to abduct an IDF soldier, hold him in Hizma and then "trade" him to relatives of security prisoners held in Israel, to that they could use him as a bargaining chip in a prisoner exchange deal.

The conceived deal was to include former Fatah secretary general Marwan Barghouti and former PFLP leader Ahmed Saadat

Two Palestinians were arrested and indicted in connection to the case. The two, identified as Aladin and Natzif Said, face three counts of attempted abduction with aggravated circumstances.

The investigation derived that the three had attempted to carry out their nefarious plan within the West Bank on several occasions, but to no avail.

According to Shin Bet sources, the next stage of their plan was to try and lure a solider waiting in one of the bus stops between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to board their car. The unfortunate abductee would have then been smuggled into the West Bank.

Security sources added that the cell's scheme indicates that the PFLP is becoming more adamant to see its leader freed.

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