Twelve Islamic State members and supporters were arrested in the Wadi Ara area of northern Israel and in Nazareth on Monday night, after two terrorist attacks were carried out by ISIS-affiliated terrorists in Hadera and Beersheba in the past week.
Items that may serve as evidence of the suspects’ affiliation with ISIS were seized by Border Police, Israel Police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) officers who stormed the homes of the suspects.
Security forces searched 31 homes and locations on Monday night.
Police were placed on the highest level of alert across the country on Monday, a day after two ISIS-affiliated terrorists shot and killed Border Police officers Yazan Falah and Shirel Aboukrat in Hadera. A Bedouin Israeli stabbed four Israeli civilians to death in Beersheba on March 22.
The terrorists in the Hadera attack were identified as Arab-Israelis from Umm el-Fahm. Many police officers raided the city on Sunday night, arresting five suspects from there and other locations and seizing weapons and ammunition. Books and other items connected to ISIS were also seized in the raids.
The terrorists posted a video on Facebook before the attack, showing them swearing allegiance to ISIS. The terrorist movement published a statement on Sunday night, taking responsibility for the attack and the attack in Beersheba.
One of the attackers in Hadera had previously spent time in prison for trying to join ISIS in Syria, like the Beersheba attacker who was recently released from prison for supporting the terrorist group.
Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.