Israel announced Thursday that it had foiled an ISIS plot to bomb a major shopping mall in Tel Aviv, and arrested five suspects, all Arab citizens of Israel.
The Times of Israel reported:
The five residents of Taybeh in central Israel formed a terror cell allied to ISIS, the fanatical terror group that originated in Iraq and Syria.
The five were arrested after a month-long clandestine investigation in collaboration with the Lahav 433 serious crime unit and were set to face charges in the coming days. The cell’s leaders were named as Mahmoud Azam and Ibrahim Sheik Yousef.
They recruited three others — Sajed Masarwa, Abdullah Baransi and Abdel Kareem Baransi.
Israel’s Arab population has largely remained loyal to the state. Dozens of Israeli Arabs, including Muslims, were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, and several were taken hostage.
There has been a recent uptick in terror attacks and attempts as Israel has made progress in its military campaign against Hamas and Hezbollah.
IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon (IDF)
IDF soldiers in Gaza (IDF)
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released a statement Thursday, describing its latest progress on both fronts:
The IDF is continuing limited, localized, targeted operations against Hezbollah attack infrastructure and terrorists in southern Lebanon. Over the past day, IDF soldiers eliminated numerous terrorists in various close-quarters encounters and aerial strikes. The forces also located and destroyed hundreds of weapons, including anti-tank missile and rocket launchers aimed at civilian communities in northern Israel, as well as underground terrorist infrastructure.
Simultaneously, the IDF is continuing operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In the Jabaliya area, over the past day, IDF soldiers eliminated more than 50 terrorist operatives, including those who fired anti-tank missiles toward the troops. The forces located large quantities of weapons, including AK-47, an RPG, and ammunition. In Rafah, IDF troops dismantled a rocket launcher, additional weapons, and underground terrorist tunnel shafts. In central Gaza, the forces eliminated more terrorist operatives, located weapons, and dismantled terrorist infrastructure.
Over the past day, the IAF struck more than 110 Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanon and approximately 30 Hamas terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip. The strikes targeted terrorist cells, weapons storage facilities, launchers, terrorist infrastructure sites, observation posts, and underground terror infrastructure.
The IDF continues to intercept drones fired by Shiite militias in Iraq or Houthi militias in Yemen, all controlled by Iran. Israel is thought to be preparing to respond to last week’s ballistic missile attack by the Iranian regime.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
