_a.jpg "צילום: שמוליק רחמני")
Terror plot against Tel Aviv-Jerusalem train thwarted
Shin Bet, IDF arrest four Palestinians from Bethlehem area suspected of planning series of bombings against Israeli targets, including derailment of passenger train from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
An Islamic Jihad terror cell planning to wire the tracks of one of Israel's busiest train lines was arrested in a joint IDF and Shin Bet operation near Bethlehem last month. Their arrest was cleared for publication Thursday afternoon.
The military operation also uncovered an explosives laboratory used by the cell, which had already assembled a functional explosive device.
The four Palestinian cell members confessed in their questioning to planning numerous attacks against Israeli targets, including a plot to detonate explosives along the train tracks leading from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, tracks that pass near the Bethlehem area.
The cell had also planned to bomb Israeli cars on Route 60 (connecting Beersheba to Nazareth and via the West Bank) and attack a local security patrol unit belonging to the Beitar Illit
settlement. They also planned to hurl improvised grenades at a military vehicle and steal the soldiers' weapons.
The cell members studied explosives online, purchased the necessary materials and were attempting to raise funds.
