Head of security service says Israelis should not be lulled into complacency by 'deceptive calm'

The head of Israel's Shin Bet security service warned on Monday that the Palestinian group Hamas are sure to attempt terror attacks on Israelis during the upcoming Passover holiday, Israeli news outlets report.

Addressing parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Nadav Argaman said Israel is in a period of "deceptive calm" and there was no doubt that terrorist networks will attempt attacks during the holiday.

He further said that in the face of so-called "lone wolf" terrorists with no explicit ties to a terrorist group, the Shin Bet has developed new technologies and operational techniques. Argaman added that the Shin Bet arrested some 400 would-be attackers before they could commit acts of terrorism since October 2015.

The Shin Bet announced last week that it had recently uncovered a terrorist cell affiliated with the al-Aqsa brigades, the militant branch of the Fatah organization, which planned to carry out attacks just outside of Jerusalem.

Days before that, the Shin Bet cleared for publication that it had uncovered a Hamas network of students in the West Bank last month.

The Hamas affiliated cell was comprised of a number of students from Birzeit University, located near Ramallah, according to the security service.

And earlier this month, Israeli security forces arrested a Palestinian allegedly recruited by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah accused of, among other things, planning to kidnap Israelis.

Meanwhile, Israel has seen a spike in arrests over support for the Islamic State or al-Qaida terror groups, with at least 83 Palestinians and Israeli-Arabs prisoners or detainees held in Israeli prisons on suspicion of activities or links to Salafist jihadist groups as of late February.