Indictment against terrorist who placed bomb in Tel Aviv: Aided enemy

Today (Wednesday) it was released to the press, that during the last month a military squad from Ramallah has been exposed, who four members - Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists – are accused of carrying out the explosive attack on a bus in Shaul Hamelech Street in Tel Aviv on 21.11.2012, in which 26 people were injured.

The squad members planned additional attacks, but thanks to the actions of the security forces, including special forces of the Israeli police, they were arrested, and attacks were avoided.

Interrogation of suspects indicates that the head of the squad, Ahmed Musa, began planning the attack and searched online for information about assembling devices, chemical substances and remote explosives via a mobile phone. He also experimented with explosive charges, purchased ammunition and a gun and tried to buy additional weapons. With the beginning of Operation 'Pillar of Cloud' Musa increased his attempts for an attack and decided to implement it in Tel Aviv.

Musa activated Mohammed Mafraja, who holds an Israeli identity card, to get the charge into town and at the same time started preparing it. On the morning of the attack Musa gave Mafraja a bag with an improvised charge he had prepared. He ordered him to put the bag on a bus in Tel Aviv. Mafraja put the luggage and after he got off the bus, called Musa, who operated the charge remotely using a cell phone attached to the charger.

It further stemmed from the interrogations that apart from the charge attack other attacks were planned, including drive-by shootings at concentrations of soldiers in various regions. Members of the squad had already started gathering intelligence for their implementation. They also considered suicide attacks, when Musa was trying to recruit activists for that purpose, and the possibility of a terrorist attack against government officials and mayors. The squad members planned to buy an apartment in Ramallah to hide in and use it for their activities, but they were arrested before they could carry out their plans.

This morning and indictment was submitted to the Tel Aviv District Court against Mafraja, which attributes to him offenses of aiding the enemy during the war, attempted murder (dozens of cases), conspiracy to commit a crime, causing an explosion substance is explosive and causing serious bodily harm, carrying and transporting weapons and servicing a prohibited association. Indictments against the others involved will be soon be submitted.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!