The Jerusalem District Court on Friday indicted Ibrahim Al-Ramadi, a 22-year-old resident of East Jerusalem of planning to carry out a terror attack alongside Hamas terrorists in Tel Aviv during a hostages’ families’ protest in the city.
According to the indictment, submitted by Attorney Pua Ben Tov from the Jerusalem District Prosecutor’s Office, the man intended to carry out a terrorist attack against Jews with two other individuals.
To this end, he met with a Hamas member and a member of another West Bank terror group to enlist their help. The three planned to conduct an attack using a timed explosive and discussed the best way to carry out an attack that would harm as many Jews as possible.
The indictment added that the three considered various options for the attack: placing an explosive at a demonstration advocating for the return of hostages in Tel Aviv, a shooting attack on a bus in the Jordan Valley, kidnapping Jews and placing an explosive on a Jewish bus.
At some point, one of the group members decided to back out of the plan and the suspect brought in another person to finalize the details, having decided to carry out the attack in Tel Aviv during a demonstration for the return of the hostages.
Detectives from the Israel Police’s Central Unit Jerusalem District Police arrested the man at his home on September 17 following Shin Bet directions.
Protests in East Jerusalem
The charges added the suspect incited terrorism, expressed support for a terror organization and made several social media posts praising, sympathizing with and encouraging acts of terror. On October 9, 2023, two days after Hamas’ attack, he posted an image of Hamas terrorist with the caption, "God, grant victory to Islam and Muslims."
The indictment charges the young man with terrorism charges including conspiracy to murder, expressing support for a terror organization, incitement to terrorism and contact with a foreign agent. The prosecution has requested that the defendant be remanded in custody until the end of the legal proceedings against him.
“The investigation revealed that at some point the man, a supporter of the Jenin Brigades and Hamas, decided to conspire with others from the West Bank to assist in his murderous plots. With their help, he planned to purchase weapons and explosives to carry out terrorist attacks against security forces and civilians,” the Israel Police and Shin Bet said in a joint statement.
"The joint investigation revealed that the terrorist had already written a will, created a social media group called 'Soldiers of God,' and was preparing to execute his plan to attack participants in the protest,” the statement added.
“Fortunately, however, he didn’t manage to acquire the weapons he had planned to use for the attack, as he was arrested by the Shin Bet and the police, thwarting his intentions. He declared that he still intended to carry out an attack even after his arrest, saying, ‘I would have carried out an attack and killed a large number of people if I hadn't been arrested.'"
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