The Shin Bet security agency caught a Tehran-sponsored terrorist cell plotting to carry out attacks in Israel, including assassinating National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the agency revealed on Wednesday.
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Israeli forces arrested five suspects – three Palestinians and two Israeli citizens – who were recruited by the Islamic Republic.
Video: Gallant reveals Iran building airport in Lebanon for terrorism / Credit: Go live
The Shin Bet identified the three Palestinians as Ziad Shanti, 45, and Hassan Mujarimah, 34 – both from Jenin – and 47-year-old Murad Kamamaja from the nearby village of Kafr Dan. The Israelis were named as 23-year-old Hamad Hammadi from Nazareth and 18-year-old Yosef Hamad from Muqeible in the Gilboa region.
Mujarimah and Kamamaja were allegedly under the direction of a Jordanian working for Iranian security services. They were reportedly tasked with smuggling weapons into Israel and collecting information on two targets: Ben-Gvir and former Knesset member Yehudah Glick, both staunch advocates of Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount. In 2014, Glick survived an assassination attempt by Palestinian terrorist Mutaz Hijazi.
Hammadi and Hamad could not get close enough to the minister to report anything meaningful due to Ben-Gvir's security detail. Mujarimah and Kamamaja, who knew they were being directed by Iran, recruited Shanti, who in turn recruited the two Israelis.
The Shin Bet said that in a "test run" for a future attack, the Israelis recently torched a car in Haifa and filmed it to prove their commitment to their Iranian masters.
Ben-Gvir thanked the security forces for "exposing and capturing the terrorist squad planning to assassinate an Israeli minister."
"I will continue to act fearlessly and even more vigorously to fundamentally change the conditions of imprisoned terrorists, to continue the war on terror, for the right of prayer and Jewish sovereignty on the Temple Mount, for the integrity of our country and for ensuring the safety and security of the citizens of Israel," he said.
Earlier this month, Mossad director David Barnea said that the agency, in cooperation with international allies, had so far this year foiled 27 plots by Iran to murder Israelis and Jews outside the borders of Israel.
"The plots being pursued by these [terrorist] teams were orchestrated, masterminded and directed by Iran," he said, noting that the plots took place "all over the world," including "in Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and South America."
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On Sunday, Barnea showed a video he said proved beyond a doubt that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is directly involved in murder plots against Jews worldwide. "The Iranian regime is no longer able to deny its involvement, and most importantly, it has no immunity," stated the Mossad head.
"Any harm done to any Israeli or Jew in any way whatsoever will elicit a response against the Iranians who dispatched the terrorists and the policymakers who authorized the terror units to carry out the plots, from the bottom all the way up to the top," Barnea warned, vowing to exact a price "deep inside Iran, in the heart of Tehran."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have also charged the Islamic Republic with orchestrating the most recent surge in Palestinian terrorism.
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
