Israel Foils Attack Allegedly Plotted by Son of Hezbollah Leader Jawad Nasrallah used social media to recruit and form a cell of would-be Palestinian attackers, Israeli security officials say By Rory Jones
http://www.wsj.com/articles/israel-foils-attack-allegedly-plotted-by-son-of-hezbollah-leader-1453306705
Jawad Nasrallah used social media to recruit and form a cell of would-be Palestinian attackers, Israeli security officials said on Wednesday. Another Hezbollah operative then instructed the recruits to carry out suicide bombings and shootings against Israeli civilians, they said.
An Israeli military court in the occupied West Bank indicted five Palestinians after an investigation into the cell’s activities, charging them with crimes including conspiracy to manslaughter and contact with an enemy organization.
A senior Hezbollah operative was killed in Syria in December, allegedly by an Israeli airstrike, raising tensions between the longtime foes. Hezbollah retaliated by bombing an Israeli convoy on the Lebanese border this month.
Israeli officials said Hezbollah was “working diligently to stir up trouble” in Israel and take advantage of a four-month wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Jawad Nasrallah is a member of the Shiite Muslim group, which is backed by Iran.
“This incident was highly unusual in that a mature terrorist cell was directed by Hezbollah and planned to carry out an attack,” the Israeli statement said, adding that the militant group was “exploiting the Palestinian population and seducing young people to carry out attacks.”
A spokesman for Hezbollah in Beirut declined to comment.
Israeli officials said Jawad Nasrallah had recruited Mahmoud Zaghloul, a Palestinian resident of the West Bank city of Tulkarem, to lead the cell. A lawyer for Mr. Zaghloul couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
Hezbollah then transferred $5,000 to the group and instructed it in using explosives, training suicide bombers and purchasing weapons, they said.
Palestinians have staged near-daily attacks against Israelis over the past four months, killing 26 civilians and injuring nearly 300 others, according to Israeli officials.
More than 140 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security and civilians, most of them after attacking Israelis, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Israel’s announcement followed a shooting in the West Bank city of Tulkarem on Wednesday that injured one soldier, the military said.
Palestinians stepped up so-called lone-wolf attacks this week, after the rate of assaults had slowed in December.
On Monday, a Palestinian stabbed a pregnant 30-year-old Israeli woman in the West Bank before being shot by soldiers, the Israeli military said. Both were undergoing treatment. On Sunday, an Israeli woman was fatally stabbed at her West Bank home. The military said it arrested a Palestinian suspect two days later.
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