Four young Arab and Bedouin men, who conspired to target Israel Defense Forces soldiers will serve six to 11 years in prison, the Haifa District Court ruled Wednesday.
The four residents of northern Israel were convicted of committing criminal offenses. They came together to hurt Israeli soldiers, collected weapons and prepared explosive devices.
The judges noted in the sentence that "this series of acts points to their desire to carry out their plan to harm soldiers and other security forces members."
The affair began at the end of 2008, when the main suspect, Abdullah Yunes Haruba, 21, from the village of Maghar, contacted a Gaza resident named Abu Kassem on the internet. The latter encouraged him to set up a terror cell in order to seek revenge against Israel over the situation in the Strip, and later over Operation Cast Lead.
"After the operation, the two began discussing the need to respond to Israel's actions in Gaza through terror attacks," the indictment read. "Abu Kassem told Haruba that he must work to carry out terror attacks in Israel, and therefore learn to prepare explosive devices."
Abu Kassem offered to fund the operations and prepared an "instruction clip" describing how to kidnap a person. He promised Haruba to claim responsibility for the attack so as not to expose the young man's actions.
Haruba later contacted Suheib Halil Kabaha, 21, from the town of Barta'a, "and after they became acquainted the two discussed the need to avenge the State's actions during the Gaza war," the indictment noted.
According to the charges, Haruba and Kabaha conspired to aid the enemy in its war against Israel through terror attacks against members of the security forces.
Kabaha set up a terrorist cell and "recruited" the two other defendants, Kutaiba Dura Kabaha, 20, and Muhammad Shawki Kabaha, both from Barta'a. The three worked to obtain explosive devices and weapons. Suheib even located an IDF training facility near the community, declared it a target for a terror attack and took a picture of it with his cellular phone.
The three confessed to the allegations as part of a plea bargain, which was signed after the court heard most of the witnesses for the prosecution. The plea deal did not determine the punishment.
'Defendants did not show regret'
Judges Yosef Elron, Moshe Gilad and Menahem Raniel ruled that the defendants were "citizens of the State, who may be young, but enlisted to aid the State's enemies, and their actions point to their desire to carry out their plan to hurt soldiers and members of the other security forces, and this should be viewed severely."
The judges addressed the fact that the security forces were the ones who uncovered the plot and thwarted the attacks, noting that "these defendants were not deterred by the planned actions, did not express regret and did not turn themselves or any of their friends in."
The court sentenced Haruba and Suheib Kabaha to 11 years in prison and a two-year suspended sentence, Kutaiba Kabaha was sentenced to eight years in prison and a two-year suspended sentence, while Muhammad Shawki Kabaha was sentenced to six years in prison and a two-year suspended sentence.
A fifth defendant, whose case was discussed separately, will serve 15 months in prison and a 10-year suspended sentence.