The Shin Bet and police thwarted a bomb plot targeting IDF soldiers at a bus stop in Acre, arresting a suspect who sought to carry out the attack in the name of the Islamic State terror group, the agencies announced Tuesday.
State prosecutors filed charges against Issa Madi, 18, who allegedly made contact with Islamic State operatives online and sought to carry out an attack under the terror group’s banner.
Police said that Madi, who lives in Acre, tried to assemble explosives for a planned IED attack at a bus stop adjacent to the city’s train station.
He had for months consumed ISIS-related content online via TikTok, and had even made contact over the app with another Islamic State member whom he taught to manufacture explosives, said prosecutors in the State Attorney’s Office.
He also joined several ISIS-affiliated group chats on Telegram, from which he downloaded 47 manuals detailing how to assemble explosives and other combustibles, they added.
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According to the indictment filed, Madi succeeded in manufacturing an explosive in July from battery acid, acetone and hydrogen peroxide — but flushed the material down the toilet for fear of getting caught.
View of the Old City of Acre, Northern Israel, November 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
He was nevertheless arrested the next month at his home on August 21. When police arrived at his house, Madi allegedly threw his phone out a window in an attempt to destroy evidence on the device.
He faces charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, training and instruction to commit an act of terror, contact with a foreign agent and obstructing legal proceedings.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, there has been a marked uptick in the threat posed by ISIS from within Israel, police have said, saying that an increasing number of Arab Israelis have been caught plotting attacks against the backdrop of the ongoing hostilities.
According to the Ynet news outlet, 42 Arab citizens have been arrested for identifying with Islamic State, many of whom planned to carry out attacks on the terror group’s behalf.
Earlier this month, state prosecutors filed charges against 25-year-old Najib Deek, from Baqa al-Gharbiya, accusing him of swearing allegiance to ISIS. Police said he had plotted a terror attack; however, prosecutors refrained from charging him with the offense and indicted him solely on the charge of membership in a terrorist organization.
According to the indictment, the defendant “weighed the possibility” of setting off a grenade near a kiosk frequented by soldiers. He also considered traveling to Somalia to join an ISIS cell there.
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