Israel’s security apparatus has revealed on Monday that Anas Haj Yahya, 35, an Israeli citizen living in Tayibe, an Arab city in central Israel, near Kfar Saba, was arrested on January 29, 2017, on suspicion of activities for and ties to the Islamic State.
Haj Yahya was arrested based on intelligence pointing to him as being active in promoting terrorist attacks against Israel. In his GSS interrogation, Haj Yahya confessed to connections with Islamic State agents, to whom he distributed incitement content as well as military know-how on preparing explosives.
According to GSS, Haj Yahya swore allegiance to the Caliph of the Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and in the past considered going to Syria to join terror groups there.
Haj Yahya also confessed to planning to establish a terrorist cell for the Islamic State and attempted to recruit members. He was instructed to plan a terro attack on a Tel Aviv bus and harm IDF soldiers, but was unable to carry out his plan.
The Police, SWAT and GSS forces that picked up Haj Yahya discovered in his possession extensive training material showing he was knowledgeable about preparing dangerous explosives and well versed in producing explosive belts, smartphone-driven charges and mixing explosives with poison.
On Monday, Haj Yahya was indicted in regional court by the central district prosecution.