Israeli security forces recently thwarted an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack that was to be carried out near the Knesset in Jerusalem, the Israel Police and Israel Security Agency reported on Monday.
The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office on Monday submitted to the city’s district court an indictment against two eastern Jerusalem residents who identified with ISIS— Mustafa Abdel Nabi, 19, and Ahmad Natsha, 20. The pair were arrested in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem on Dec. 26.
According to the charges filed, the two watched daily videos released by the ISIS terror group, including religious sermons, beheadings and other executions. ISIS and Hamas flags were also found with them, as well as chemical materials to prepare explosives and a notebook with instructions on how to prepare explosives, among other findings.
They intended to blow up a truck full of gas tanks near Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, in the Givat Ram neighborhood.
Israeli security forces last month also arrested two other Palestinians planning ISIS-inspired terror attacks in Jerusalem, the Israel Police and ISA cleared for publication earlier in January.
The suspects, both in their twenties, were arrested in December in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Jebel Mukaber, according to a joint police and ISA statement.
During a weeks-long investigation, authorities learned that the two were influenced by ISIS content online and on Telegram, including graphic videos of killings around the world.
The pair planned to plant improvised explosive devices around eastern Jerusalem aimed at security forces, and to commit other acts of terror.
