A member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization in Gaza was arrested for conspiring to sink an Israeli naval patrol boat and kidnap survivors last month, according to the Shin Bet security services and the Israel Defense Forces.
According to the report, terrorists planned to use a boat to lure over a navy ship, then another to attack it with anti-tank fire, and a third to kidnap wounded and dead soldiers. The plan was allegedly in retaliation for Israel’s recent destruction of several active underground terror tunnels in Gaza, which killed several Islamic Jihad operatives.
But the terror plot was thwarted when the navy’s 916th Patrol Squadron stopped and boarded a Palestinian boat that had traveled beyond the designated Gaza fishing zone, arresting 10 people. A video of the arrest shows naval special forces commandeering the ship, and ordering all aboard to put their hands up and lie down on the deck.
During interrogations following their arrest, one of the prisoners admitted to receiving instructions from Islamic Jihad commanders to carry out the attack on Israeli navy ship. Two additional people on board were arrested for their part in the plot. The other seven were released following interrogation, according to the Shin Bet.
Amin Saadi Muhammad Jumma’a confessed to performing research for his mission, including observing naval ships, collecting intelligence on their location, numbering the soldiers and listing the types of weaponry aboard. He allegedly agreed to commit the attack for $5,000.
He was also charged with transporting 660 pounds of explosives on a fishing boat from Egypt to Gaza for Hamas in 2012 or 2013, and 150 packages of fiberglass from Egypt to Gaza for Hamas for weapons manufacturing in 2014 or 2015.
