Palestinian forces bust terror cell looking to attack Jewish-Israelis

Four-man Kalkilya terror cell discovered by PA forces; Israeli Arab indicted in Israel, 3 others to be handled by IDF legal division.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Palestinians wave PLO flags (photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinians wave PLO flags
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A bust by Palestinian security forces of a four-man Kalkilya terrorist-cell led to the arrest and indictment of its members by Israel, the Justice Ministry announced on Wednesday.
The Central District Attorney’s Office filed an indictment with the Lod District Court on Wednesday against Khaled Daoud, 21, for his involvement in the cell, including charges of manufacturing and attempting to manufacture weapons as well as conspiracy to commit a felony.
The other three members of the cell, Namir Atta, Abd al-Hak and Abd al-Rahman, will be handled by the West Bank prosecution arm of the IDF legal division.
They are presently being interrogated by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and their files have still not been transferred to the IDF legal division.
Daoud was indicted in Israel because his mother has an Israeli citizenship.
According to the indictment, in July 2013 Atta contacted al-Hak and al-Rahman about forming a terror cell while at a mosque in Kalkilya. Shortly thereafter, the three invited Daoud to join them, whereupon they conspired to manufacture weapons and carry out terror attacks on Israeli Jewish targets.
The four debated what kind of attack to undertake, discussing shooting attacks, explosives and rockets. They eventually settled on explosives and appointed Daoud as the cell’s leader, the indictment stated.
Al-Hak and Atta allegedly attempted to configure and acquire components for a remote telephone-detonated explosive, but eventually changed their focus to manufacturing grenades.
The cell allegedly tried to build remote-control explosives, grenades and other explosives. And had succeeded with at least one home-made grenade, which was tested and successfully detonated, the indictment said.
Shortly after successfully setting off one of the grenades in a test explosion in November, Palestinian security forces arrested the cell and they were taken into custody by Israeli security forces.
The Shin Bet said it could not confirm whether the Palestinian forces had tipped it off about the details and whereabouts of the cell or whether its own assets had learned of the cell.
In the past, Palestinian security forces have released arrested terrorists and then quietly tipped off Israel to mitigate internal public criticism against handing over Palestinians to Israel.
The arrest was particularly noteworthy in light of the unity talks between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas and the significant low point in relations between the PA and Israel and the unraveling of peace talks.
The prosecution requested remanding Daoud to police custody until the end of the proceedings.