Hamas terrorist attack near the Temple Mount foiled

Israeli security forces foil Hamas terrorist plot in Jerusalem.

By TPS

Israeli security forces recently foiled a planned terrorist shooting attack outside of the Temple Mount, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed Sunday morning.

A statement by the Shin Bet and Israel Police revealed that in a joint operation, the two organizations thwarted a shooting attack planned against police officers in Jerusalem.

In March, the Shin Bet and the Jerusalem Police conducted an investigation of Omar Abedin, a 21-year-old resident of a predominantly Arab neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem who is suspected of conspiring to carry out acts of terror.

As part of the investigation, it was revealed that Omar belongs to the Hamas terrorist organization and in this context, he was a participant in Hamas activities within the ‘Kathala Islamiya’, the Hamas-identified student cell at Bir Zeit University in Ramallah.

In addition, it was revealed that a few months ago the suspect began to communicate via Facebook with a terrorist operative from Lebanon. Later they switched to chatting on Telegram.

At a certain point, Omar was instructed to carry out a shooting or bomb attack when and he would have received financial aid for this purpose through additional operatives from Judea and Samaria.

Omar agreed to this request and planned to carry out a shooting attack on a bus carrying police officers in the Temple Mount area.

An indictment is expected to be filed Sunday by the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office.

In a separate operation conducted overnight, Israeli security forces arrested five wanted terror suspects across Judea and Samaria.

IDF, Border Police, and Shin Bet forces arrested two suspects and confiscated military equipment in the village of Husan south of Jerusalem.

The forces arrested another suspect  and confiscated ammunition and weapon parts in the city of Hebron.

IDF soldiers also arrested two wanted terror suspects in Kafr Ni’main in Samaria. During the operation, clashes broke out when dozens of Arab rioters threw stones at IDF forces, who responded with measures to disperse them.

In the activity of the forces near the village of Qabatiya in Samaria, the fighters fired at armed men who fired at them first.

The wanted persons who were arrested were transferred to the security forces for further investigation.

No casualties were reported to Israeli forces.