 Story highlights Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praises work of security services, military 
 
 Israeli security forces say they have broken up a network planning terror attacks 
 
 At least 30 Hamas members have been arrested, Israel's security agency says 
 
 Intended targets include a football stadium and a light rail station, it says 
 
 Israeli security forces said Thursday they have broken up a wide-ranging terror plot, which would have included attacks on a football stadium, abductions and car bombings. In response to Thursday’s announcement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended the Shin Bet and IDF for thwarting the attack, saying it was only one of multiple covert operations “against terrorists, against Hamas, which poses a threat to the existence of the nation state of the Jews and is in essence a threat to the existence of Jews in general.” 
 
 “We act day and night to protect the security of Israeli citizens and the people who are engaged in this work are deserving all praise and support,” he said in a statement. Those who accepted came under the command of Hamas’s Turkey-based headquarters, which oversaw their military training.They were trained under the supervision of Hamas’s overseas and Gaza-based branches, in Jordan, Turkey, Syria and the Gaza Strip.Recruits reached Gaza through smuggling tunnels from Egypt, and were instructed in weapons, terrain analysis, navigation and how to keep information secret.In Turkey, they learned about various “spheres of operations, aimed at carrying out terrorist attacks within Israel, the West Bank and overseas,” the Shin Bet said.In Jordan, training included weapons handling, bomb-making and briefings ahead of attacks.At the end of their training, recruits joined various terrorist plots, in line with guidance from senior Hamas members in Turkey.Instructions arrived from Hamas commanders in Turkey to field operatives, via “forward operatives in Turkey and Jordan, who were responsible for executing the plans.”Subsequently, Hamas operatives arrived in the West Bank to carry out the attacks, as well as coordinate the smuggling of weapons and money.The operatives received instructions to recruit local terrorist cells and train more operatives, as well as to locate sites for bomb-making labs and apartments that could serve as operations centers.In August, the Shin Bet thwarted an earlier large-scale plot, headed by senior Ramallah- based Hamas commander Riad Nasser, who is under arrest.That plot was also directed by Hamas’s Turkey-based headquarters, specifically by Saleh Aruri, who commands the movement’s “West Bank sector.”Hamas funneled more than NIS 1m.
– Car bombings, kidnappings, and attacks on railway stations and Jerusalem's Teddy soccer stadium were just some of the items on Hamas' checklist, according to Israeli officials who today say they foiled a major West Bank terror plot by the group, the AP reports. The Shin Bet security service confirms it arrested in September more than 30 militants who reportedly were recruited and trained in Jordan, Turkey, Syria, and the Gaza Strip to carry out their missions, the Jerusalem Post reports. Their orders came directly from Hamas leaders who had set up shop in Turkey, and a stash of weapons and explosives was found as well, CNN reports. Other intended plans: sneaking into Israeli communities, targeting Israeli traffic and military hubs, and establishing Jordanian terror cells, the Post notes. The operation apparently started to fall apart after a failed roadside attack at the end of August, the Times of Israel reports: Info gathered after that incident offered "a wealth of information about the infrastructure." "This is one operation that has been published, but there are many more that remain secret," PM Benjamin Netanyahu says, per the AP. "These foiling activities are against terrorists and against Hamas, which challenges the existence of a Jewish nation-state and the existence of Jews in general." Hamas, meanwhile, has offered no comment so far. (A reported member of Hamas drove right into an Israeli crowd in October and killed a baby.)