After an intelligence search & investigation by the IDF’s Northern Command, joined by the Shin Bet, Israel’s Northern District prosecutors charged 5 men from Nazareth with severe security offenses at the Northern District Court on Tuesday.
Security forces arrested five Arab Israeli youths from Nazareth on suspicion of training with weapons and holding secret meetings after coming under the influence of ISIS ideology, the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency announced on Tuesday.
Suspected ISIS members arrested by Shin Bet. – Photo: SHIN BET,JPOST STAFF
In a joint Shin Bet – Israel Police Northern District announcement, security forces said arrests were made throughout October and November, of men aged 18, 18, 22, 23, and 27, all from the Suleiman clan in the northern part of the city.
During questioning, “it emerged that in the past year, the youths obtained firearms and trained with them, while becoming more devout during meetings they held. They expressed support for ISIS, and praised the jihad against infidels,” the Shin Bet said.
Security forces seized two firearms they described as SKS and Carl Gustav rifles, which were allegedly used to shoot in a forest near Nazareth.
Northern District prosecutors charged the men with severe security offenses at the Nazareth District Court, including illegal possession of weapons, supporting an illegal organization, and taking part in illegal gatherings.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon declared ISIS an illegal organization in September 2014.
Security forces have been on the lookout for any ISIS-related activity in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.
In late October, a 23-year-old Israeli Arab man from Jaljulia paraglided into Syria from the Golan Heights in order to join an Islamist Syrian rebel group, IDF spokesman Brig.-Gen. Moti Almoz said.
IDF look-outs spotted the paraglider hovering from northern Israel into Syria, and alerted the military, which launched a large-scale search.
“We believe he planned this move to the other side, and joined a group there,” Almoz told reporters during a conference call. “From the moment we spotted him, a large operational and intelligence search and investigation by the Northern Command, which was joined by the Shin Bet, began,” he added.
Security forces announced in September the arrest of a Gazan ISIS-affiliated operative who tried to cross into Israel via the Erez land terminal.
The Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency named the suspect as 27-year-old Ihab Abu Nahal, from Gaza City. It added that he was arrested in late July, and that his ultimate destination was Qatar, where he wished to take part in an employment program for Gazan teachers.
The terror suspect “took part in several attacks against the IDF during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza last year,” the Shin Bet said, as well as other attacks.
View original The Jerusalem Post publication at:
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Israel-arrests-five-alleged-ISIS-followers-from-Nazareth-436690
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