Security forces arrested a 16-year-old Israeli who allegedly planned to carry out a terrorist stabbing at the police station in Tira, a city in the Triangle, a concentration of Arab communities adjacent to the Green Line.
The Arab-Israeli teenager was detained overnight Saturday after he approached officers from the Tira station and the Israel Border Police with a knife while yelling “Allahu akbar.”
The officers “overpowered the minor while using a non-lethal weapon [a taser gun] and arrested him on the spot,” the police said.
The teenager, a resident of the city, was transferred to the custody of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) for questioning.
In December, two Israelis were wounded, one seriously, in a stabbing at the entrance to a police station in the Galilee city of Karmiel, in what authorities subsequently determined was likely a terrorist attack.
The perpetrator, identified as a resident of the nearby Arab town of Nahf in his 20s, was arrested after a search, police said.
Since the start of the Swords of Iron war on Oct. 7, 2023, there has been a growing radicalization among segments of Israel’s Arab population.
Since the beginning of the war against Hamas in Gaza 19 months ago, security officials have investigated 80 cases involving citizens. There have been 26 cases of Israelis swearing allegiance to ISIS and other terrorist groups, Kan News reported in March.
The Shin Bet moved to detain 177 Arab citizens for questioning in cases involving national security in 2024, the public broadcaster said.
