The Italian police announced on Monday the arrest of three Palestinians suspected of planning terror attacks, including suicide bombings, against civilians and military targets.
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According to the newspaper La Repubblica, the suspects, detained in the city of L'Aquila, were granted asylum on humanitarian grounds. One of them is Anan Yaeesh, a 37-year-old man who has lived and worked in L'Aquila since 2017.
Italian investigators have identified the suspects as members of the Tulkarm Battalion-Rapid Response, a segment of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. In 2023, the European Union designated this group as a terrorist organization.
Italian authorities announced the arrest of Yaeesh on January 27 at Israel's request, charging him with aiding in financing the Tulkarem Battalion. Extradition talks are in progress. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi praised the arrests of the suspects, labeling them "dangerous terrorists."
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, there have been reports from around the globe of arrests involving Arab, Iranian and other terror suspects, amid concerns they were plotting against Israeli and Jewish targets.
Last week, Peru announced the arrest of an Iranian national accused of planning to assassinate an Israeli businessman at an economic conference in the country later this year.