JERUSALEM — Israel’s internal security service said Sunday that it dismantled a Daesh-linked cell in the country’s north, where purported sympathizers conducted fatal attacks earlier this year.
“Six Nazareth citizens were arrested and interviewed by the Shin Bet some weeks ago on suspicion of attempting to carry out terrorist acts on behalf of (Daesh) within Israel,” the agency said in a statement.
It went on to say that the individuals had “met to plan assaults.”
According to the Shin Bet, the investigation “highlights Daesh’s influence in Israel.”
A convicted Daesh sympathizer embarked on a stabbing and car-ramming rampage in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba in March, killing four people.
Days later, two police officers were killed and numerous others were injured in the northern Israeli city of Hadera in an incident claimed by the jihadist group.
The Beersheba and Hadera bombings reignited Israel’s long-standing anxiety over Daesh’s efforts to recruit Arab Israelis, who make up roughly one-fifth of the Israeli population.
Source: AFP
