Facing a mounting wave of Palestinian terror, Israel’s security forces have been operating relentlessly to capture the perpetrators.

Israeli security forces arrested members of a terror cell that recently attempted to blow up an Israeli gas station, the Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency) announced on Tuesday.

The two terrorists set fire to a gas station in the Israeli community of Eli in Samaria on August 14. The perpetrators vandalized the station and sprayed the symbol of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

No one was injured in the attack, and the blaze was quickly extinguished, but the fire did damage the station.

Forensic teams collected evidence at the scene of the attacks and, using eyewitness testimony, the security forces were able to apprehend the cell.

The perpetrators, Majdi Galal Ezzat Kowarik, 22, and Ahmed Azam Ata Abdat, 23, are residents of the nearby Awarta village and are members of the PFLP terror organization.

During the investigation, the two confessed that they carried out the attack. Kowarik planned the attack, while Abdat drove the vehicle to the site of the attack and threw a firebomb at the gas station.

They claimed to have executed the attack as a revenge for the Duma village fire, in which members of an Arab family were killed in a blaze, allegedly caused by Israeli attackers.

The findings of the investigation were submitted to the Military Advocate General in Judea and Samaria in order to file an indictment against the two.

Rosh Hashanah Terrorists Caught

In another successful operation, four Palestinian youths, including two minors, were arrested on suspicion of having carried out a rock-throwing terror attack in Jerusalem on the Jewish New Year two weeks ago directly causing the death of Alexander Levlovitz.

According to a statement by the Shin Bet on Saturday, the four are residents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Baher and hold Israeli citizenship.

The four were identified as Muhammad Salah Muhammad Abu Kaf, 18, Walid Fares Mustafa Atrash, 18, and Abed Muhammad Abed Rabo Dawiat, 17. The fourth suspect’s identity was not revealed.

During their investigation, the four admitted to setting out on the evening of Rosh Hashanah to attack Israeli cars.

Dawiat was the one who threw the fatal stone that hit Levlovitz’s car, causing him to lose control of his vehicle and crash into a pole. He also reportedly had a heart attack during the incident. He died of his wounds the next morning. Two women who were in the car were lightly wounded.

The four attacks fled the scene after attacking several Israeli vehicles. They met later to coordinate their version of events in case they were caught, the Shin Bet said in the statement.

The terrorists told investigators that they carried out the attack in the name of the Hamas terror group.

In total, Israel’s security forces have arrested 174 terrorists in connection with rioting that has caused violence in the capital in the past weeks.

By: Max Gelber, United with Israel