Cleared for publication: Shin Bet and Police Central Unit officer of the Amakim Subdistrict Police arrested three residents of northern Israel onterror conspiracy charges. They were arraigned Sunday by the Nazareth District Court.
The three – Ahmad Khaled Ghanem, 19, and Nur al-Din Bassam Shehadeh, 18.5, from Nazareth, and Muataz Adnan Shtawi, 19, from Nazareth Illit – are suspected of forming a terror cell, manufacturing weapons and explosive devices, and attempting to buy arms from Palestinians, with aim of targeting Israeli security forces and citizens.
According to the indictment, in January 2009, the three conspired to form the terror cell, which they intended to call "Death to Zionism".
Shtawi then used one of the computers in his school to download instructions on how to put together an explosive device, and copied it onto a USB flash drive.
The three subsequently met at Shehadeh's Nazareth home, where they tried to assemble two pipe bombs.
The indictment goes on to claim that Ghanem had contacted Jenin resident Kassem Mohammed Gawad, in order to procure weapons from him. The two then met with a third party in Jenin, who agreed to sell Ghanem three M-16 rifles and munitions, as well as broker the sale of three AK-47 rifles for Ghanem. The deal eventually fell through.
Another weapons deal the three attempted to carry out also fell through, presumably because the weapons in question were too expensive.
Ghanem was reportedly arrested in early March, while Shehadeh and Shtawi were arrested in early April.
The State Prosecutor's Office asked the court to remand the three pending the conclusion of the legal proceedings against them.
"These are ideologically-based offenses, driven by the fighting that took place in Gaza (in 2009). Since we are now seeing a similar situation between the State of Israel and Gaza Strip, the defendants are likely to resume their actions and target Israeli security forces and civilians," the prosecution said.
Northern District Prosecutor Attorney Orit Korin told the court the three admitted the acts attributed to them.
According to the prosecution, the three also planned to stab a soldier in one of Nazareth's bus stops, but did not follow through on their plan.