Israel on Wednesday arrested an Iranian-led terror cell planning to carry out terror attacks against Israelis and assassinate National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Shin Bet security agency announced.
The Shin Bet arrested five suspects, three Palestinians and two Israeli citizens, who were recruited by the Iranian regime in order to destabilize Israel’s security, it said.
Two of the Palestinian suspects, named Murad Kamamja and Hassan Mujarima, were accused of being directed by a Jordanian resident working for Iranian security forces. As per the Shin Bet, the two were tasked with smuggling weaponry into Israel and collecting information on two political assassination targets – Ben-Gvir and former MK Yehuda Glick.
The two suspects’ terror activities focused on setting Israeli vehicles ablaze, the agency said.
Iran tells Israelis to set cars on fire
The two Israeli citizens arrested, residents of northern Israel, were recruited by a Jenin-based operator in June, torching a car in Haifa and filming it, in what the Shin Bet said was most likely a “test run” conducted by the Iranian operators in order to examine the Israeli citizens’ willingness to carry attacks.
The Shin Bet said it views the involvement of Israeli citizens in terror plots “very seriously,” with indictments handed out over the past few days to the suspects detained by Israeli security forces.
Ben-Gvir reacts to thwarted assassination attempt
Ben-Gvir took to X, formerly Twitter, to laud the Israeli security apparatus’s efforts in thwarting the Iranian assassination plot.
“I commend the General Security Service personnel and the security forces who exposed and captured the terrorist cell that intended to assassinate an Israeli minister,” the national security minister wrote. “I will 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.”
אני מודה לאנשי שירות הביטחון הכללי ולאנשי כוחות הביטחון אשר הביאו לחשיפתה וללכידתה של חוליית המחבלים שהתכוונה להתנקש בחיי שר בישראל. אמשיך לפעול ללא מורא וביתר שאת לשינוי מהותי של תנאי הכליאה של המחבלים בכלא, להמשך המלחמה בטרור, למען זכויות התפילה והריבונות היהודית בהר הבית, למען…
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) September 27, 2023
This is a developing story.
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