Israel has determined that Hamas activated operational cells in Jerusalem.

Officials said the intelligence community has assessed that Hamas was activating operational cells based in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. They said the cells included those released in the massive prisoner exchange in 2011, many of whom became local commanders.

“While we dealt with fantasies about the political process, the Palestinians have prepared an interlocking infrastructure of terrorism and incitement,” Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said.

On Nov. 18, at least four worshippers, three of them U.S. citizens, were killed when Palestinians stormed a Jerusalem synagogue and began shooting and slashing congregants. Two of the attackers were killed and a third was said to have escaped.

“This is the direct result of the incitement led by Hamas and Abu Mazen,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, referring to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said. “We will respond harshly.”

Officials said the two Palestinians were cousins and lived in the Jabal Mukhaber neighborhood of Jerusalem. They said the southeastern Jerusalem neighborhood has been a stronghold of Hamas, which claimed responsibility for the attack.

“There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through holy war,” Hamas said in a statement.

Officials said Hamas, which on Nov. 18 posted a video that called for more attacks in the city, has restored its operational network in Jerusalem over the last year. They said the network was based on the return of hundreds of operatives released in 2011, believed to have recruited friends and relatives for sleeper cells.

“They look for Arabs with clean police records who work in Jewish neighborhoods,” the official said. “Some are recruited through ideology, but most are pressured through Hamas operatives in their neighborhoods.”

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