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Jaffa teen arrested on suspicion of working for ISIS, Hamas

The 14-year-old allegedly photographed security sites in Israel and said during questioning that he is willing to become a “martyr” for Islam.

ISIS Flag
Israeli soldiers hold an ISIS flag found on the body of a Hamas terrorist at Kibbutz Sufa, near the southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 12, 2023. Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

Israeli security forces arrested a minor in Ramallah on Oct. 17 on suspicion of carrying out tasks for the Islamic State and Hamas, the Israel Police said on Friday.

The 14-year-old suspect, a resident of Jaffa, provided the terrorist groups with videos and footage of buildings in Israel related to security forces, investigators found, according to broadcaster Channel 14.

The minor also told questioners he tried to make bombs and wanted to become a martyr for Islam, the report read.

A gag order had been imposed on the investigation, and the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court periodically extended the suspect’s detention, police said.

A prosecutor’s statement has been filed against him, while the State Attorney’s Office intends to submit an indictment on serious charges against him in the coming days, the police added.

With the gag order lifted, police said that that evidence was seized linking the suspect to the alleged offenses.

He was detained by the Tel Aviv District Police’s Central Unit in an operation guided by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).

In August, the Israel Defense Forces targeted and killed Muhammad Abd al-Aziz Abu Zubaida, the head of ISIS’s “Palestine District” in Gaza, in the Bureij area of the Strip.

Abu Zubaida was the senior-most figure in ISIS’s Gaza operations, responsible for setting policy, planning and overseeing the terrorist group’s activities in the enclave, as well as in Judea and Samaria and the Sinai Peninsula.

According to the military, ISIS has actively fought IDF troops in Gaza, while also facilitating the transfer of combat equipment and terror funds from Judea and Samaria into the Strip.

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