Israeli security forces dismantle Palestinian terror network, five indicted

Israeli security forces said on Tuesday that they dismantled a terrorist network involving more than 30 suspects from Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria that was allegedly preparing attacks against Jews and security forces.

Five Jerusalem residents were indicted in Jerusalem District Court, according to a joint statement from the Israel Police, Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Israel Defense Forces.

Authorities said Rashid Rishq and Tzabih Abu Tzabih established the network and recruited terrorist cells across Judea and Samaria. Investigators said Rishq and Ahmad Azmi Bakri planned an attack at a restaurant in Modi’in where Bakri worked, while Rishq and Abu Tzabih also planned a shooting attack against security forces in Al-Eizariya, east of Jerusalem.

Rishq was released in January 2025 as part of a hostage-release deal with Hamas. Abu Tzabih is the son of Misbah Abu Tzabih, who carried out a 2016 shooting attack in Jerusalem that killed two Israelis.

Additional indictments against suspects from Judea and Samaria are expected in the coming days.

Israeli security forces apprehended a Hamas cell and dismantled a rocket during a counterterrorism raid in the Aqraba area, near Nablus (Shechem) in Samaria, the IDF and Shin Bet said on Sunday.

The operation, which included forces from the Border Police’s National Counter-Terrorism Unit alongside the IDF and Shin Bet, was completed on Sunday morning, according to the joint statement.

The 10-member terrorist cell had been working to advance attacks against Israeli civilians, according to the statement. The rocket was found without a launcher and dismantled on the spot.

Questioning of one of the terrorists led forces to a weapons cache, the statement said. The cache held an M16 rifle and a large quantity of explosives intended for the production of improvised explosive devices.

IDF soldiers on Friday completed a counterterrorism operation in the Qabatiya area of northern Samaria, apprehending five terrorists who were part of a cell planning an attack on civilians and security forces, the military said.

The operation was based on intelligence from the Shin Bet.

During searches of the suspects’ homes, the soldiers located and confiscated an M16 rifle and additional military equipment that had been concealed by the cell.

The soldiers apprehended the terrorists less than 10 minutes after arriving at the suspected locations. They were transferred to security forces for further questioning.

Earlier on Friday, the IDF said that more than 10 wanted suspects had been arrested during a 48-hour brigade-level counterterrorism operation in the Nablus area of central Samaria.

During the operation, troops searched hundreds of sites and questioned dozens of suspects.

The soldiers also dismantled more than 30 weapons-production machines and confiscated firearms, handguns and ammunition.