An ISIS sympathizer from Acre planned an attack on soldiers at a city bus stop, the Shin Bet and police announced Tuesday.
Issa Madi, 18, of Acre, was arrested in recent weeks after, the Shin Bet and police say, he took steps to manufacture explosive materials and tried to obstruct the investigation. An indictment is due to be filed against him Wednesday.
During interrogations by the Shin Bet and the Asher district police unit for combating organized crime, investigators say Madi planned an improvised explosive device attack at a bus stop near the Acre train station. The probe also found he planned the attack for nationalist motives in the name of the Islamic State and that he communicated with ISIS operatives abroad, authorities said.
Since the start of the year the Shin Bet has detained 42 Arab citizens of Israel who identified with ISIS, and several local cells that planned attacks in Israel have been foiled, the agencies said. “Since the start of Operation Iron Swords there has been an increase in the threat level from the Islamic State and its supporters on Israeli territory, and a growing trend of Israeli Arab involvement in terrorism amid the influence of the war,” the Shin Bet and police said.
Earlier this month the Haifa district attorney filed charges against a Baqa al-Gharbiyye resident who swore allegiance to ISIS and planned an attack on security forces. In questioning of Najib Diq, 25, investigators say he joined ISIS after pledging allegiance to the global terror group and consuming its online content, including beheading and execution videos. They say his religious radicalization and the Gaza war led him to consider an attack on security forces.
In May, prosecutors charged two brothers and a 15-year-old from Ar'ara who swore allegiance to ISIS and contacted a Syrian man who instructed them on building explosive devices. They conducted tests with detonations and planned a car-bomb attack in Israel, reportedly targeting Tel Aviv. They recorded themselves on video, and the minor reportedly stomped on and burned a national flag.
About two months earlier an indictment was filed against a 17-year-old from Jisr az-Zarqa who repeatedly pledged allegiance to ISIS and planned an attack in Hadera. When he was arrested, authorities say, they found documents on the manufacture of explosives and IEDs.