Egyptian authorities have arrested 49 people they accuse of spreading Shi'ite Islam and plotting terrorist attacks in Egypt on behalf of the Iran-backed Lebanese Hizbullah. Among those arrested, according to a Hizbullah lawyer, 
The Hizbullah mission was to "recruit people to work with the organization and carry out attacks within the country."
are seven Israeli Arabs.
According to an announcement on Wednesday, Egyptian intelligence uncovered a cell organized by operatives dispatched to Egypt by Hizbullah leaders. The Hizbullah mission was to "recruit people to work with the organization and carry out attacks within the country," an Egyptian Attorney General's Office statement said.
Members of the cell, which numbers at least 49 people, were allegedly assigned to gather intelligence on the Suez Canal, tourist sites in the Sinai Peninsula and the Egypt-Gaza border, as well as to "spread the Shi'ite ideology" and "foment rebellion." To aid in their activities, the cell members are believed to have forged official documents and prepared explosives for use in attacks, as well as renting houses along the border with Hamas-controlled Gaza for use in smuggling operations.
In a statement in response to the revelations, broadcast on Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV station in Lebanon, the terrorist organization rejected the Egyptian claims. Hizbullah has no aspirations beyond Lebanon and is primarily focused on fighting Israel, the group claimed.
An attorney for the Hizbullah in Lebanon, however, is representing the suspects in the Egyptian court system. Lawyer Montasser al-Zayat told the Al-Jazeera TV network on Wednesday that seven of the detainees are Israeli Arabs, known as "1948 Arabs" in anti-Israel society.
"I began to follow up the case in which seven of the 1948-Arabs were arrested," al-Zayat was quoted as saying. "Then information followed [of] Egyptian young men on charges of supporting members of Hizbullah to deliver aid and funds to Hamas and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."
Israeli government and military spokespeople had no immediate comment on the claim that Israelis were among those arrested.
A spokesman for the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist movement, told Gulf News that the arrests were most likely a heavy-handed effort to pressure Hizbullah to cease its badmouthing of Egyptian leaders.
The arrests began in November or December and continued through the end of March. In addition to Egyptians, and possibly Israelis, the cell reportedly includes citizens of Lebanon, Sudan and the Palestinian Authority.