Fast Draw – Al Qaeda in Israel

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Al Qaeda aims to attack Israeli targets within Israel itself. The organization is aided by residents of Judea and Samaria, and even residents of East Jerusalem.

The Israeli General Security Service (Shabak) continues to search for signs Al-Qaeda activities. According to various sources the terrorist organization’s efforts will continue in the near future. This morning Israeli media reported the arrests of three terrorists by the Shabak, one resident of East Jerusalem and two from Jenin, who planned to carry out complex terror attacks in the service of Al-Qaeda’s Gaza branch. Among the targeted locations were the Jerusalem Convention Center and the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. According to Shabak assessments the activists were recruited through social networks and Skype chat.

Al Qaeda has carried out attacks against targets all over the world, but in the last few months the organization began operating in Israel as well. This resulted in raising the readiness levels of Israeli security services and led to a close cooperation with international intelligence agencies.

IHLS – Israel Homeland Security

Shabak investigators discovered that the Gaza-based operator recruited the three activists about four months ago, through e-mail, Skype and Facebook communications. None of the activists knew about the others. General Security Service sources said that the three were never arrested before for terrorist activities, but they were avid supporters of various organizations, including Al-Qaeda.

Another source involved in the investigation said that the planned attacks were extremely dangerous, but were thankfully stopped before the activists could do any real damage. The source added that the methods used by the terrorists are similar to those used by Al-Qaeda all over the world, especially along the Israel-Egypt border, all coordinated through the internet.