Police and Shin Bet reported on Sunday uncovering a terrorist cell in northern Israel planning to carry out attacks on behalf of Hamas.
Police, Shin Bet crack down on Hamas-linked terrorist cell in northern Israel
(Video: Israel Police)
According to a joint statement, a total of 13 suspects, all Israeli Arabs mostly from Sakhnin, were apprehended and indictments were filed Sunday against seven of those involved, residents of Sakhnin.
Documents found by soldiers in the Gaza Strip led to an investigation against two of those involved - Muhammad Khaled Halaila and Muhammad Yosef Halaila - and they detailed the involvement of the others.
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The seven were charged with conspiracy to commit a terrorist act of murder under aggravated circumstances, revealing a decision to betray, preparing for a terrorist act of murder under aggravated circumstances, using weapons for terrorist purposes, contact with a foreign agent, and arson, as well as other charges.
Some suspects were involved in a firebombing attack on Kibbutz Eshbal during the May 2021 Gaza war.
Four firearms, ammunition and bulletproof vests were seized as part of the operations. The weapons were reportedly purchased from operatives in the West Bank.
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IDF, Shin Bet and Special Forces operating in the West Bank
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
According to the information revealed in the investigation by the Shin Bet and the police, one suspect was in contact with Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip, who provided him with instructions for manufacturing explosives and instructed him to recruit additional members. In addition, the members of the squad recruited other members from Sakhnin, with the aim of promoting terrorist activity within Israel.
"This is a serious act against the security of Israeli citizens, involving a terrorist plot woven with Hamas' involvement in Gaza, potentially harming the normative majority in the Arab sector,” the statement read.
“The Shin Bet and the police will continue to thwart terror and track down those threatening national security, including those involved in terrorist activities during the Guardian of the Walls riots," the internal intelligence agency added, using the name given to the 2021 war by Israel.
Muhammad Khaled Halaila, 25, and Muhammad Yosef Halaila, 24, discovered a growing interest in Hamas and its activities, and developed an ideological identification with the organization's actions. Against the backdrop of the Guardian of the Walls events, one of the suspects, Muhammad Agbaria, planned to establish an armed military unit that would carry out attacks against Jews when a war broke out against Israel, with the aim of helping the enemy in his war against Israel and from a nationalist-ideological motive.
He was later joined by the accused Muhammad Khaled Halaila. In order to promote the plan, they started buying weapons from a resident of the Palestinian Authority whom they knew through work relationships. During the year 2021, the two defendants purchased two improvised submachine guns with cartridges and bullets. The accused went to an open area in Sakhnin and checked the integrity of the weapon and practiced using it.
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A burning vehicle in an Arab-Jewish Isralei city during Operation Guardians of the Wall
During 2022 , the two defendants worked to add another defendant, Muhammad Ayush, to the squad, they presented to him the need for the squad to be armed in order to carry out the attacks, and offered him to join the activity. In response, Ayush expressed his agreement to join the squad and even purchase weapons. Ayush even bought a weapon from Mohammed Khaled Halaila. Later, the accused Muhammad Shohana and Abu Salah were added to the squad. They decided that the official name of the squad would be "Khoras Kalat al Tawahid," In one of the squad's meetings, squad members discussed the possibility of enlisting in the Israel Police or the IDF in order to acquire combat skills and steal weapons from the army.
Muhammad Khaled Halaila continued to buy weapons, bullets and protective vests in order to be used by the members of the squad when carrying out the attacks, as part of the preparation for carrying them out, which he kept in his home until the day of his arrest. Muhammad Khaled Halaila and Muhammad Yosef Halaila talked about possible places to carry out the attacks near Haifa, placing a bomb and detonating it on a bus carrying soldiers or shooting at soldiers sitting on the bus. The accused discussed photographing the Rafael weapons factory and sending the photo to Hamas operatives in order to fire rockets at the place, and also discussed the possibility of hitting a lightning pole located in Sakhnin in order to damage the state's infrastructure.
Promotion Picturea and produced 30 Molotov cocktails in order to set them on fire and throw them at Kibbutz Eshbal. The next day, Ali Khalil joined them, and the five went out on foot toward the settlement, throwing Molotov cocktails.