The Shin Bet security agency has arrested three Arab Israeli men for suspected ties to the Islamic State group and plans to join its activity in Africa, the Shin Bet said Monday.
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One suspect, a Bedouin man from a village east of Beersheba, was detained on July 22. When interrogated, Muhammad al-Rafa'i'a admitted that he supported ISIS wanted to fight for the jihadist group in Israel, the Shin Bet said.
On July 14, Muhammad Farouk Yousef Agbaria and Abd al-Mahdi Masoud Muhammad Jabarin were detained due to suspicion that they would be flying to Africa to fight alongside Islamic State terrorists there.
The Shin Bet said the two were "closely monitored by security forces, given that they were identified to have extreme Salafi-jihadist ideologies."
According to the Shin Bet, Agbaria and Jabarin, both 21, from Umm al-Fahm, consulted with a man who had allegedly recently returned to Israel after fighting with Al-Qaida in Africa.
The three suspects were each charged with "serious security offenses" and other weapons-related offenses.
"The Shin Bet will continue to… deal with the phenomena related to extreme Islamic ideologies, and to thwart intentions to harm the security of [Israel]," the security service said in a statement.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
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