Five Arab Muslims Arrested for Planning Terrorist Attack Against Jews at Temple Mount
Israeli security forces and the Israel Police arrested several Arab residents of east Jerusalem who are members of the Hamas-affiliated Shabab al-Aqsa organization who were involved in an attempt to carry out violent attacks against security forces and visitors to the Temple Mount.
The Shabab al-Aqsa organization is declared a terrorist organization in Israel. The organization’s activists identify with the Hamas terrorist organization and work to keep the visitors away from the Temple Mount by various means, including violent riots that have caused numerous injuries to security forces in recent years.
The Shin Bet said that the activities of Shabab al-Aqsa also served as a catalyst for the spread of murderous terrorist attacks in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem in recent years. In October 2016, a policeman and a civilian were killed in a shooting attack carried out by one of the organization’s leaders, Mesbah Abu Sabih, near Ammunition Hill.
The Shin Bet investigation led to the arrest of Mahmoud Abd al-Wahhab Sa’id ‘Abd al-Latif, a resident of the Old City and a senior activist in the organization, on suspicion of recruiting operatives to the organization.
The arrest of the organization’s activists was made possible by intensive intelligence and operational activity by the General Security Service and the Israel Police, aimed at ensuring free access to the Temple Mount, preserving the status quo in the compound, and preventing terrorists from undermining the security situation in the compound.
The Jerusalem District Prosecutor’s Office filed indictments against five of the organization’s activists for offenses under the Anti-Terrorism Law, along with a request to detain them until the end of legal proceedings in their case. Several of the charges and details of the case remain under a gag order.
