The Shin Bet and police thwarted a planned shooting attack planned by Hamas to target police officers near the Temple Mount, the Shin Bet and police announced on Sunday.
According to a joint statement, Omar Abedin, a 21-year-old resident of east Jerusalem, was communicating on Facebook and Telegram with a terrorist operative from Lebanon. The Shin Bet statement did not specify if the terrorist operative in Lebanon was affiliated with a specific terrorist group.
During their conversations, Abedin was asked to carry out a shooting or bombing attack and was told he would receive financial aid for this purpose through additional operatives from the West Bank. Abedin agreed to the request and planned to carry out a shooting attack on a bus carrying police officers near the Temple Mount.
Abedin participated in the activities of the Hamas-affiliated Islamic bloc student group at Birzeit University.
An indictment is expected to be filed against Abedin later on Sunday.
Shin Bet thwarts attack in the West Bank
The announcement comes just a few weeks after the Shin Bet announced that it had thwarted a West Bank terrorist cell organized by Palestinians from the Gaza Strip that planned to carry out a shooting attack in Jerusalem within a matter of days.
According to the Israel security agency, two operatives from the Popular Resistance Committees terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip headed the establishment of the cell: Iman Youssef Khalil Zakot and Zabri Mohammad Zabri Aram, both from Rafah.
The Shin Bet was monitoring the cell from the moment the Gaza terrorists began planning it and revealed it once it came close to carrying out attacks.
The Popular Resistance Committees terrorist organization is backed and funded by Hamas.
In early March, the Shin Bet announced that four Palestinian students from the West Bank were arrested after working with Hamas to advance terrorist attacks against Israelis.
A Shin Bet investigation found that Ahmed Mahmoud Abu Salah, 24, a resident of the West Bank, traveled to Turkey and was recruited to the Hamas terrorist organization with the help of Hamas operative Iyad Aldin Akra.
Abu Salah received military training in Turkey and Syria, including weapons training and learning how to produce explosives. Before returning to the West Bank, Abu Salah met with Hamas official Azzam Akra who asked him to receive weapons and funds and to recruit and train additional terrorists in order to establish a cell to carry out terrorist attacks.
After Ahmed was arrested, three other Palestinians, Oyes Mahmoud Abu Salah, 20, Salah Mahmoud Abu Salah, 23, and Hasin Fauz Akra, 25, were arrested by the IDF for interrogation by the Shin Bet.
The Shin Bet found that Oyes and Hasin had agreed to be recruited into Hamas and even intended to go through training in the Gaza Strip. Oyes planned to carry out multiple terrorist attacks, including a bombing attack together with Salah. The three were also involved in throwing stones at police officers at al-Aqsa Mosque in April 2022 during Ramadan.