ISIS terrorists in Jerusalem planned shootings, car bombing, and drone strike

Israeli authorities arrest three ISIS terrorists in Jerusalem, foiling planned series of shooting attacks, car bombings, and a possible drone strike.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli authorities arrested members of an ISIS terror cell in Jerusalem recently, foiling a string of planned attacks.

In a joint statement issued Thursday by the Israel Police and Shin Bet security agency, authorities revealed that three terrorists who had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) were arrested as part of an investigation into Arab terrorism in eastern Jerusalem.

The three terrorists, all residents of eastern Jerusalem in their 20s, had planned to carry out a string of terror attacks, or a possible combination attack, on Israeli security personnel manning the Sheikh Sa’ed checkpoint in the Jabal Mukhaber neighborhood in east Jerusalem.

The neighborhood, a long-time hotbed of Arab terrorism, is separated from Judea by the checkpoint.

According to prosecutors, the three terrorists had planned to attack the checkpoint with gunfire, a car bomb, and possibly an explosive-laden drone aircraft.

Over the past few weeks, however, the Shin Bet and the Central Unit of the Israel Police’s Jerusalem District uncovered the plot, leading to the arrest of one of the suspects several weeks ago.

The arrest of the suspect, a resident of the Sur Baher neighborhood, culminated in searches of his home, during which a handgun and ammunition were found hidden inside a sock.

After the suspect was interrogated by police, additional members of the terror cell were identified, with two more suspects arrested days later in eastern Jerusalem.

All three suspects were inspired by ISIS and had watched numerous ISIS videos – often gruesome – online, including footage from executions.

At the time of their arrests, the terrorists had moved beyond the planning stages and were actively preparing for an attack on Israeli security personnel.

The trio was studying how to assemble explosive devices, and one of the three had purchased a firearm, which he told interrogators he hoped to use for “killing Jews.”

According to the Shin Bet and Israel Police, the three had formally joined ISIS and were planning to visit ISIS forces in Syria, having already established contact with ISIS terrorists in Syria as well as in Judea and Samaria.

The three hoped to receive ISIS training in handling explosives and assembling bombs.