Alleged Islamic State backer charged with planning car-bomb attack at Beersheba club

Abdullah Gergawi, 20, allegedly procured machine guns and assault rifles and was in contact with purported Palestinian terror operative in preparation to blow up Forum nightspot

Prosecutors on Tuesday charged a 20-year-old from a southern Bedouin town with plotting a car-bomb attack on a popular Beersheba nightclub, after he contacted Islamic State enthusiasts and a person “who presented himself as a Palestinian terror operative,” police and the Shin Bet said.

The Southern District Attorney’s Office indicted Abdullah Gergawi at the Beersheba District Court on charges of security offenses and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, the joint statement said.

Gergawi was arrested on July 19 in his hometown of Segev Shalom, according to the statement.

Gergawi “carried out actions” to produce an explosive device as part of his plan to attack Beersheba’s Forum nightclub, police and the Shin Bet said.

The statement did not specify the time of the preparations or when Gergawi allegedly planned to carry out the attack.

It also did not say how far along the plan was.

According to the statement, Gergawi had been “exposed for an extended period” to Islamic State propaganda on social media, and he “identified with the organization’s ideology and consumed terrorist content.”

In addition to contacting the purported Palestinian terror operative, Gergawi also “participated in a Telegram group chat where materials were exchanged relating to Islamic State and terrorist activity,” the statement said.

Investigators who interrogated him discovered that in 2025, Gergawi “held many weapons in his home,” including MAG and Negev machine guns and Kalashnikov and M16 assault rifles, the statement said.

In March and April of this year, Gergawi also allegedly possessed an illegal M-16 knockoff and fired it in an open area.

נעצר תושב הנגב שלפי החשד היה במגע עם סוכן חוץ ותכנן פיגוע במועדון "הפורום" בבאר שבע

במסגרת חקירה משותפת של היחידה המרכזית במחוז דרום ושירות הביטחון הכללי, נחשפה פעילותו של תושב היישוב שגב שלום, עבדאללה גרגאוי, בן 20, שלפי החשד קיים מגע עם סוכן חוץ, החזיק באמצעי לחימה ותכנן לבצע… pic.twitter.com/WHbecEvBz2

— משטרת ישראל (@IL_police) August 18, 2026

Dozens of Arab citizens have been arrested in recent years on suspicion of plotting attacks on behalf of Islamic State, including five residents of Taybe who allegedly plotted to set off a car bomb at Tel Aviv’s Azrieli mall in 2024.

Islamic State, which at one point ruled over large swaths of Iraq and Syria, in 2022 called on its supporters in Israel to carry out attacks.