Israeli authorities announced in a statement today, Sunday, that they have filed an indictment against a group of Arab citizens in the northern part of the country who planned to carry out "terrorist attacks." According to the statement, the Israel Security Agency "Shin Bet" and the central police unit in the north conducted a joint investigation over the past few months during which several citizens were arrested, most of them from the city of Sakhnin, suspected of membership in a "terrorist organization" that planned to carry out "explosion operations."
According to information revealed in the investigation, members of the cell recruited several citizens from Sakhnin to "enhance terrorist activity within Israel," and the preparations included the purchase of weapons sourced from the West Bank. The statement mentioned that "a suspect in illegal arms trading from the West Bank was arrested. It was also found that one of the suspects was in contact with members of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, who provided him with instructions for preparing explosives as well as guidance to recruit more operatives."
The investigation revealed that some of the detainees participated in throwing Molotov cocktails at Kibbutz Ashbal, near Sakhnin, during the events of "Guardian of the Walls" in May 2021. Upon completion of the investigation, the prosecution in Haifa is set to file an indictment against 13 suspects and seek their detention until the end of the proceedings.
