Shin Bet says it foiled ‘significant’ terror network in West Bank, Jerusalem
Times of Israel · LC · trust 28/100
More than 30 Palestinians were recently detained over their membership in a “significant and extensive” terror network based in the West Bank and Jerusalem area, the Shin Bet security service announced on Tuesday.
The network had been planning “attacks against Jews and security forces,” the Shin Bet said in a joint statement with the military and police.
Five Jerusalem residents who were members of the network were charged with “serious” security offenses, including “managing a terror organization, active membership in a terror organization, conspiracy and preparation to commit an act of terror involving murder under aggravated circumstances, weapons and property offenses for terror purposes, recruiting and attempting to recruit members to a terror organization,” and other offenses, the statement read.
Indictments against some of the West Bank Palestinians involved in the network were expected to be filed by army prosecutors in the coming days, while the investigation of others was still ongoing.
Two of the Jerusalemites, Sabih Abu Sabih and Rashid Rishk, were members of the Shabab al-Aqsa group, which is affiliated with Hamas, according to the security agency. Abu Sabih is the son of Mesbah Abu Sabih , who carried out a deadly shooting spree that killed two Israelis in Jerusalem in October 2016, and Rishk was released in January 2025 as part of a hostage deal with Hamas.
The other three Jerusalemites charged in the case were named as Muhammad Abu Sabih, Muhammad Azmi Bakri and Ahmad Azmi Bakri.
The Shin Bet said Rishk and Sabih Abu Sabih established the terror network, “under which they recruited military terror cells under their command throughout the West Bank,” intending to carry out attacks.
Security forces captured several weapons that, the agency said, the network intended to use in the attacks.
According to the Shin Bet’s investigation, Ahmad Azmi Bakri and Rishk planned a terror attack at a restaurant in the central city of Modiin, where Ahmad worked.
Additionally, Muhammad Azmi Bakri instructed Rishk and Muhammad Abu Sabih on how to build explosive devices after they told him of their intention to carry out attacks, including a shooting attack against Israeli security forces in the West Bank town of al-Eizariya, according to the security agency.
“The Shin Bet, Israel Police and law enforcement authorities will continue to act to thwart any attempt by Hamas and terror organizations to advance terror activity against residents and citizens of the State of Israel and will work to impose the full severity of the law on all those involved in these offenses,” the joint statement added.
Separately on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said troops shot dead a wanted Palestinian who attacked the forces during an attempt to question him in the northern West Bank overnight.
Troops raided the town of Aqraba, south of Nablus, in an attempt to question Abd al-Karim Muhammad Salem Khader, who the army said was “a terrorist affiliated with a terror organization.”
As the troops arrived at a building where Khader was residing, he threw a Molotov cocktail and an improvised bomb at them, without causing injuries, the military said.
The soldiers then surrounded the building and carried out a tactic known as “pressure cooker,” which involves escalating the volume of fire against a building to flush suspects out. Palestinian media reported that the IDF fired shoulder-launched missiles at the building and used a bulldozer to demolish part of it.
Eventually, the soldiers breached the building, and troops of Nahal Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit opened fire and killed the wanted man after spotting him brandishing a knife “with which he intended to attack our forces,” the IDF said.
The official Palestinian WAFA news agency reports that Khader’s body was seized by the Israeli forces.
Also overnight, troops operated in the villages of Qabalan, Awarta and Yatma, during which the army said they detained three Palestinians involved in terror activity and questioned some 60 other wanted suspects.
Violence in the West Bank has escalated sharply in recent months, mostly involving settler attacks on Palestinians, though there have also been several attacks by Palestinian assailants on Israelis, including a stabbing on Monday .
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