Police arrest 5 Issawiya terror suspects for French Hill attacks

Arab suspects accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a synagogue, popular night club, police and civilians.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
Police car370 (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Police car370
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Jerusalem Police, in coordination with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), arrested five terror suspects from the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya for an alleged six-month terror campaign against adjacent French Hill residents, police announced on Wednesday.
According to a report issued by Shin Bet, the alleged terror cell regularly planned and carried out attacks in French Hill and the Mount Scopus campus of Hebrew University.
The report stated that the suspects have been charged in four separate attacks in French Hill dating back to November, including throwing Molotov cocktails at a synagogue on HaHayal Street in November and setting fire to a police vehicle that same month; throwing Molotov cocktails at an apartment in February; and throwing petrol bombs at a popular night club in the area earlier this month.
The five men named in the report were Mufid Muhammad Shafiq, 20, Muhammad Kamal Ahed, 19, Ibrahim Mohammad Odeh Derabas, 19, Lid Dawood Hassan Ilian, 19 and Atta Mohammad Bassam Ilian, 19.
Police said the suspects will remain in custody and appear in Jerusalem Magistrate Court within the next few days.