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Six Israeli Arabs arrested for planning to join ISIS in Syria
Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency announced yesterday that several Israeli Arab citizens were arrested and charged with planning to join ISIS in neighbouring Syria.
The investigation was prompted by a well-publicised incident last month, in which 23-year-old Nadaal Salah para-glided into Syria from the Israeli Golan Heights. Security services were initially scrambled to locate the man who was thought to have mistakenly drifted across the border until it became clear that Salah had intentionally entered Syria to join ISIS.
That evening, police and the Shin Bet arrested two residents from Salah’s home town of Jaljuliya, 22-year-old Ahab Hagla and his brother 26-year-old Jihad Hagla, who helped Salah plan his flight. Under questioning, the two brothers revealed the names of others who were also planning to enter Syria and fight alongside ISIS. The Hagla brothers had intended to follow Salah and paraglide into Syria, while four other men from Jaljuliya, aged 19 to 28-years-old had planned to fly to Turkey and continue on to Syria. Jihad Hagla had already spent half a year in Syria fighting for ISIS, before returning to Israel where he was imprisoned.
All six men were charged in a Lod court with various offences including contact with a foreign agent, conspiracy, and attempted illegal crossing to an enemy state. In an announcement, the Shin Bet said, “The phenomenon of leaving for Syria and joining ISIS constitutes a significant danger to state security and much effort is being made to prevent the departure of other citizens for Syria.”
Last month, seven Israeli Arabs were arrested and charged with plotting an attack on Israelis on behalf of ISIS, having assembled weapons and undergone training. Meanwhile, in addition to the danger of ISIS near Israel’s northern border with Syria, Israel also faces the threat of an ISIS-affiliated terror group to the south of the country, which is active in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Although its attacks are focused on Egypt’s military, the group has previously fired rockets into Israel.