It has been cleared for publication that in a joint operation by the Shin Bet and the Northern District Central Unit of the Israel Police, Basil Abahara, a 23-year-old resident of Arraba in the Galilee, was arrested for questioning last month.
His interrogation by the Shin Bet and the Northern District Central Unit revealed that he planned a combined attack of detonating explosive devices followed by shooting against Jews visiting holy graves in the Galilee area. In the months preceding his arrest, he was assisted by Palestinians from the West Bank with knowledge of explosives, who were staying in Israel without permits, in order to prepare explosive devices while he was scouting the attack target.
In addition, Abahara recruited two minors to the military cell he established – both were arrested and interrogated by the Shin Bet and the Central Unit of the Northern District Police.
As part of the investigation, communication devices, a military vest, and dual-use materials for preparing explosives were seized. The cell's activity was thwarted while still in its early stages, before it was ready to carry out the attack. Abahara's interrogation also revealed that at the beginning of the war, he threw Molotov cocktails towards an access road near the settlement of Avtalion in his residential area.
At the beginning of the week, the Haifa District Attorney's Office filed an indictment against Abahara and the two involved minors, charging them with preparing for an act of terrorism and weapons manufacturing. These terrorist acts, serious in themselves, are considered even more severe when committed by Israeli citizens during wartime.
