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ISIS terrorists planning Jerusalem attacks arrested

The two men from eastern Jerusalem were detained in December while plotting bomb attacks on Israeli security forces.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The police and Shabak revealed Thursday the arrest in December of two ISIS-affiliated Arabs from eastern Jerusalem who had been planning terror attacks in the capital.

Early last month, the internal intelligence agency discovered the plot being hatched by two Jebel Muqaber residents in their early twenties to construct explosives devices and use them against police and Border Police forces in the eastern part of the city.

After informing the Jerusalem district police of the threat, one was arrested in early December, and upon interrogation revealed the existence of his accomplice, who was then arrested three weeks later.

According to the police statement, the pair had watched many clips produced by the Islamic extremist group on Telegram and internet sites, including violent content and videos of their murderous rampages in Arab countries. Influenced by what they saw, they began learning “how to prepare the charges and the means of sabotage with which they planned to carry out the attacks.”

The authorities also found pedophilia content in the cellphone of one of the suspects, leading to a second investigation being opened against him.

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Their detention has been periodically extended, and an indictment is now expected to be filed against them in the Jerusalem Magistrates Court.

“In the past year, the Jerusalem District Police and the Shin Bet thwarted dozens of attacks and attempted attacks in the Jerusalem area, in a variety of ways, both thanks to activity in the intelligence and investigative field and the vigilance, professionalism and quick response of the … police officers and Border Police fighters working in the various sectors,” the police and Shabak said in a joint statement.

One attack was successfully carried out in November, when two Palestinian brothers from the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Baher got out of a car at the entrance to the city and began shooting near a bus stop. Three people were killed and five wounded before two off-duty soldiers and a civilian gunned them down. The civilian, Yuval Castleman, was accidentally mistaken for a terrorist by one of the soldiers, who critically wounded him and he died later of his wounds.