9 East Jerusalem teenagers charged in firebombings, stonings

Nine Israeli Arab members of an alleged terror cell in East Jerusalem were charged Wednesday with terror offenses, including throwing Molotov cocktails, fireworks, and stones at police jeeps and Jewish Israelis and planning shooting attacks.

Two of them were charged with conspiracy to commit murder and four with attempted murder.

Silwan, a neighborhood located near the Old City,  has become a flashpoint for confrontation. Palestinians decry the influx of Jews into the Arab neighborhood, whom they accuse of seeking to push the Palestinians out.

The cell members were named as Amir Faruch, Mahmoud Mansour Abbasi, Saud Alian, Ahmad Abu Khalaf, Muhammad Abu Taya and Mahmad Abu Sabih. All are aged 18 or 19.

An additional three defendants are minors who cannot be named.

The Jerusalem District Court heard how cell leader Faruch initially created a neighborhood organization to arrange social activities.

After Palestinian prisoners began a massive hunger strike earlier this year, however, he decided to change the purpose of his group to a nationalist one.

His motivation was boosted after 17-year-old Silwan resident Muhammad Mahmoud Sharaf was killed in clashes with Israeli police in July, the court heard.

According to the indictment, Faruch would convene weekly meetings at his house or at a local cemetery to tell cell members that police were harming their family members and that hurting security forces was “heroic.”

The prosecution detailed 15 occasions on which cell members allegedly prepared Molotov cocktails or fireworks, or took stones, to throw at security forces patrolling the neighborhood or at their Jewish neighbors.

The indictment also accused Faruch of trying to obtain money to buy a gun for the purpose of shooting at vehicles, at the homes of Jewish residents, or at gasoline canisters to spark a fire.

According to the Shin Bet internal security forces, the group liked to call itself the “Ghosts of Silwan.”

The Shin Bet also accused Faruch of reaching out to contacts in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, seeking to work under their auspices and obtain funding for the cell’s intended terror attacks.

In one August attack, some of the suspects allegedly poured flammable liquid onto a police patrol car and then threw Molotov cocktails at it. The car was consumed by flames and destroyed.

In another, the cell is suspected of having thrown gasoline at a bus which they then ignited with a Molotov cocktail. The driver and a security guard got out in time before the bus burned completely.