Mahmad Najib Mustaffah Nazal (Shin Bet)
The Shin Bet and Israel Police nabbed a Palestinian who had been in Cairo, where he worked on recruiting Islamic terrorists to attack Israeli targets in Judea and Samaria.
The Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) confirmed Sunday that Israeli security forces and police at the end of January arrested Mahmad Najib Mustaffah Nazal, 33, who attempted to form a terror cell in Judea and Samaria.
Nazal, from the town of Qabatiya south of Jenin, left Israel in 2007 and settled in Cairo to study. There he joined the Holy Fighters terror organization that follows an extremist Islamic doctrine and ideology.
In recent years, the organization has orchestrated numerous attacks against Israeli targets, mostly including the launching of rockets into Israeli territory and attempts to carry out terror attacks within Israeli territory.
“The organization is connected with Hamas, and its activities include working relations, professional assistance, weapon supply, and military exercises. In practice, the organization is under the direct sponsorship of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and benefits both financially and by getting direction from it,” the Shin Bet statement read.
Nazal was affiliated with the Holy Fighters, Hamas and other Islamic terror groups. On photo, ISIS terrorists execute victims. (AP)
During the Shin Bet investigation, Nazal admitted that while in Egypt, he tried to identify Palestinians from Judea and Samaria then studying in Egypt in order to draft them into military exercises held in Gaza. “Nazal admitted that his aim was to establish a terror infrastructure in Judea and Samaria,” the statement continued.
The investigation further revealed that Nazal’s activities in Egypt were carried out in an apartment owned by Hamas and used for operational meetings by organization activists, including Assad Abu Srieah. The apartment was also used by high-ranking Hamas activists and terrorists for meetings and by a number of other terror organizations, the Shin Bet said.
Nazal admitted during the investigation to knowledge and involvement in the transfer of money for the Holy Fighters organization. The money was intended to fund terror operations. Nazal was also aware of a weapons smuggling route from Libya to Egypt and then to the Gaza Strip. In the coming days, the military court in Samaria will issue an indictment against Nazal.
By: Alexander J. Apfel/TPS
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