Israeli authorities arrested five members of an Iranian organized terror cell in Israel that sought to assassinate National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the National Security Agency (Shin Bet) cleared for publication on Wednesday.
Suspects include two Israeli Arabs and three Palestinian Authority Arabs. The Shin Bet said the cell was led by a Jordanian man based in Amman working on behalf of Iran.
The Shin Bet identified the three PA Arabs 45-year-old Ziad Shanti and 34-year-old Hassan Mujarimah — both from Jenin — and 47-year-old Murad Kamamaja of Kafr Dan.
The Israeli nationals were identified as 23-year-old Hamad Hammadi of Nazareth and 18-year-old Yosef Hamad of the northern town of Muqeible.
Mujarimah and Kamamaja were instructed to assist in smuggling illegal weapons into Israel gather intelligence about security personnel and senior public figures, including Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and former Knesset member Yehuda Glick. However, because of Ben-Gvir’s security detail, Hammadi and Hamad couldn’t get close enough to Ben-Gvir to report anything meaningful.
The cell then turned its attention to burning Israeli cars.
Mujarimah and Kamamaja, who knew they were being directed by Iran, recruited Shanti, who in turn recruited the two Israelis. In June, Shanti filmed himself setting fire to a number of Israeli vehicles in Haifa in what the Shin Bet believes was a test.
Ben-Gvir thanked the Shin Bet for uncovering the cell.
