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On September 27, the Israeli Shin Bet security service announced that it had foiled an Iranian-backed cell that attempted to carry out attacks, including against far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and former Likud lawmaker Yehudah Glick.
In a statement, the Shin Bet said that three West Bank Palestinians, 47-year-old Murad Kamamja from Kafr Dan, 34-year-old Hassan Mujarima from Jenin and 45-year-ol Ziad Shanti also of Jenin, were arrested. Two Arab Israelis, Hamad Hammadi, a 23-year-old resident of Nazareth, and Yusef Hamad, an 18-year-old resident of Muqeible, were also arrested, according to the security service.
Prosecutors have submitted indictments for the five suspects to the Military Court and Haifa District Court, charging them with contact with a foreign agent, arson and aiding infiltrators.
The Shin Bet and Haifa prosecutors said that an Iranian intelligence operative based in Jordan tasked Kamamja and Mujarima with smuggling weapons and organizing attacks in Israel, including plans to set cars and gas stations alight and break the windows of businesses. They were told to ensure that the acts were documented on video.
The two suspects were also tasked with gathering intelligence on Ben Gvir’s and Glick’s security, apparently to attack them. The Shin Bet noted that due to the security details of the two men, the suspects did not succeed.
According to the Shin Bet, Kamamja and Mujarima recruited Shanti who later recruited the two Arab Israelis. The two went on to set fire to at least four cars on Ha’Ari Street in Haifa on June 21. Hammadi and Hamad recorded their attacks on video.
Shanti offered Hamad NIS 1,000 [$259] for each car belonging to a Jewish person that he set ablaze, the Shin Bet said, adding that Hammadi was also asked in August to smuggle phones into Israeli prisons and to smuggle individuals from Lebanon into Israel in exchange for payment, but he refused.
Hammadi, also acting on Shanti’s orders, checked out locations along the Israel-Jordan border that were best suited for smuggling infiltrators into Israel, the security service said.
Shanti allegedly admitted during questioning after arrest that he was aware of Tehran’s support of the cell and financial backing of such activities.
“The investigation reveals the nature of Iran’s methods of using Israeli citizens, including people with a criminal background, and recruiting them to promote terrorist activity on criminal operation platforms, in exchange for financial payment,” the Shin Bet said in its statement.
Commenting on the news, Ben Gvir praised Shin Bet for thwarting the alleged plot, and vowed to “continue to act fearlessly and with determination to bring about a fundamental change in the conditions of imprisonment for the terrorists in prison, to continue the fight against terrorism, to safeguard the rights of prayer and Jewish sovereignty on the Temple Mount, and to ensure the security and peace of Israeli citizens.”
Iran and Israel have been engaged in a decades-long shadow war across the Middle East and beyond. Last July, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant revealed that Israel and its allies foiled more than 50 Iranian plots to carry out attacks against Israelis targets. The new alleged plot will for sure add to the tensions between the two regional powers.
sounds like bs. why would iran try to kill politicians that actually precipitate israel into a crisis? likely garbage news in order to divert attention from their own failed co-ops-
seems about as delusional as america’s torture chambers in cuba; maybe it’s just me, but that whole bit about america’s blincken and his father; zenesky apparently, from another world, and his godfather’s son is actually his clone? maybe the chinese did release an enhanced version of toxoplasmosis (the cat poop syndrome), and now all of western civilization is doing what? just walking away from it all?
too young to be hezballah operatives for something that big. probly a local plot they picked up when it got interesting.