Israeli Arab nabbed for allegedly planning bombings

A resident of the Israeli Arab village of Kabul in the Western Galilee has been arrested on suspicion of planning large-scale terrorist attacks, the Israel Police revealed on Thursday.

Mahmoud Hussein Muhammad Bushkar, 37, was detained during a raid by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the Central Unit of the Israel Police and the Border Police’s undercover unit, the agencies stated.

According to the statement, the suspect researched how to build bombs and bought equipment and materials with which he conducted tests, including for the production of TATP high explosives and a pipe bomb. A firearm and ammunition were also discovered during the arrest raid.

Bushkar had also planned to prepare explosive belts for the purpose of carrying out suicide bombings, it added.

He allegedly tried to recruit two more people to assist him in carrying out the attacks, but without success.

Israel’s security forces said Bushkar was inspired by the Hamas-initiated 2021 Gaza war, as well as the Palestinian terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre.

An indictment was expected to be filed against him in an Israeli court on Thursday, the security forces’ statement concluded.

Since the start of the war 15 months ago, there has been a growing radicalization among segments of the Jewish state’s Arab population.

A poll conducted in December 2023 by the Israel Democracy Institute’s Center for Democratic Values and Institutions found that one-third of Arabs disagree with the statement that the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre “does not reflect Arab society, the Palestinian people and the Islamic nation.”