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Four Israeli-Arabs were indicted yesterday on charges of terrorism, following a joint operation by the police and Shin Bet security agency.

One of those charged, 21-year-old Mahmoud Muhammad Abdul Karim Daoud, was involved in the sale and supply of illegal firearms and became aware of a terrorist attack being planned by two brothers from Jaljulya, an Israeli Arab town close to the West Bank, as the Israeli towns of Kfar Sava and Ra’anana. Adam Ismail Muhammad Faki, 25, and Faras Ismail Muhammad Faki, 27, were already known to the Israeli Police because of their involvement criminal activity and links to ISIS.

The Shin Bet said that: “This investigation reinforces the risk in the link between criminal and terrorist offences, especially the transfer of weapons from criminals to terrorists. This link constitutes a tangible danger”.

Adam Faki reportedly visited the Gaza Strip in December 2014 to attend a family wedding. During his visit he was recruited to Hamas by his half-brother Muhammad, a Hamas member who resides in the Gaza Strip, and another Gaza-based Hamas member, Hassan Amatzi, and underwent military and firearms training. In April, Adam Faki was asked by his half-brother Muhammad to attack an Israeli officer in revenge for the killing of Hamas leader Mazan Fuqaha.

The Shin Bet added that the investigation “also underscores how Hamas exploits Israel’s humanitarian policy vis-à-vis the Gaza Strip, including the exploitation of family visits, medical treatment and commerce for terrorist purposes”.

In unrelated counterterrorism investigation, Israeli security forces entered the town of Beit Fajjar on Wednesday night and shut down a weapons factory. IDF forces confiscated a lathe from the facility, which was believed to be involved in producing firearms for terrorist groups.

In total, seven residents of Jaljulya, have been arrested in recent weeks on suspicion of selling and smuggling illegal firearms.