After weeks of an ongoing investigation, the Shin Bet released a statement in regard to a resident of Umm Al-Fahm, an Arab-Israeli town north of Israel’s central district, who was arrested over the suspicion that he intended to carry out a deadly terrorist attack using an explosive device, after being recruited into the terrorist organization Hamas.
The suspect, Muhammad Nadir Mahajana, a 20-year-old Israeli citizen and resident of Umm al-Fahm, was arrested in possession of social media used to communicate with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
🚨#BREAKING: An Arab-Israeli from Umm al-Fahm was arrested by the Shin Bet (#Israel’s internal security organization) and Israel Police after being recruited by the #Gaza-based terror organization #Hamas. He was planning on carrying out a bombing attack on a bus in the Hadera…
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) May 24, 2023
In the initial investigation by the Shin Bet, it was revealed that Mahajana was recruited into the military wing of Hamas several months ago, for the purpose of carrying out a terrorist attack using an explosive device in the territory of the State of Israel. The investigation revealed that in light of the economic and psychological pressures he was under, he began to approach the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, and later decided that he wanted to carry out terrorist attacks. The investigation also revealed that the suspect gathered information about possible locations to carry out an attack in Israel, with an emphasis on Israeli security sites and crowded places, and sent the information he gathered to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Watch here the video of his arrest pic.twitter.com/6r5c7fcOg0
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) May 24, 2023
In the end, according to instructions he received from Hamas, he intended to carry out a deadly attack on bus route 921 in the Hadera area, and he even carried out several premeditated actions to carry out the attack before he was arrested. About two weeks ago, an indictment was filed against Muhammad Mahajana, accusing him of serious security offenses.
This is not the first time this year that Israeli-Arab citizens were arrested for terrorism. In January of this year, two Israeli citizens living in Ma'awiya were arrested and were also recruited by the Hamas organization in the Gaza Strip for the purpose of carrying out a bombing attack in Israeli territory. According to the Shin Bet’s investigations, it is estimated that the two were operated by the same infrastructure as the young man arrested in Umm-Al-Fahm.
Arab-Israeli recruited by Hamas to carry out terror bombing, arrested by Shin Bethttps://t.co/nR9rdgWorc
— Israel Kicks A** (@Israelkicksass) May 24, 2023
A Shin Bet official noted: "The investigation of the affair once again reveals the efforts of Hamas to promote terrorist activity in the territories of Israel, while trying to publicly distance its involvement, at the same time as falsely presenting that it wants to promote the internal affairs in the Gaza Strip. This all, while cynically exploiting the population of Israeli citizens and recruiting them for the benefit of terrorist activity.”
