Shin Bet (General Security Service) officers arrested a 21-year-old Israeli Arab woman in Ramle in mid-October. The arrest was made public on Monday, when the woman was brought before a Petach Tikva court and charged with making contact with a hostile foreign agent.

The woman, Samiya Abu-Ghanem, worked as an assistant in a local daycare center until the arrest. She planned to begin studying in an Israeli university this year.

According to the Shin Bet, Abu-Ghanem was contacted by terrorists from Gaza in September. The terrorists, members of the Fatah-linked Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades, asked Abu-Ghanem to assist them in carrying out attacks.

The terrorists allegedly asked Abu-Ghanem to help them kidnap a Jew, and she agreed.

The terrorists also asked Abu-Ghanem to help them smuggle a female suicide bomber from Gaza into central Israel, and to bring the bomber to a crowded area where she would carry out her attack. Shin Bet officials said Abu-Ghanem's arrest put an end to the attack plot while it was still being planned.