Three Jerusalem Arabs were indicted Tuesday on terror charges after they planned a shooting attack on a bus stop just outside of an Israeli community in western Samaria.
Nassim Hamdah, Az a’Din Atoun, and Obidah Amirah, all residents of Jerusalem’s Sur Baher neighborhood, were charged in a Jerusalem court Tuesday with contacting foreign agents, membership in a terror group, and conspiring to commit a terrorist act.
The terror cell was directed by Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip, the indictment claims, including terrorists freed as part of the 2011 deal to free kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
The three terrorists had planned to recruit a fourth Hamas terrorist to help them plan and execute a shooting attack on a bus stop next to the Israeli town of Oranit in western Samaria, home to former Education Minister Shai Piron.
Two members of the cell reportedly travelled to Turkey while planning the attack, where they met with Hamas terrorists exiled after their release as part of the Shalit deal. The cell members received thousands of dollars from the exiled Hamas terrorists.
Amirah, according to the indictment, attempted to acquire firearms for the attack, and conducted reconnaissance around Oranit in preparation for the planned attack.