4 Arab Israelis arrested, indicted over plans for mass shooting at Beersheba central station, attacks on security forces

Four Israeli citizens from the Bedouin town of Segev Shalom have been arrested and indicted over plans to carry out various terror-related activities, including a mass shooting attack at Beersheba’s central bus station, according to the Israel Police, Shin Bet and the State Prosecutor’s Office.

The four had planned to perpetrate a shooting attack toward the Segev Shalom police station, and to form a “terror infrastructure” aimed at harming security forces operating in the community, the police and Shin Bet say in a joint statement.

They initially planned a stabbing attack at the Beersheba central station, but then changed it to a shooting, believing knives would be insufficient, the prosecution says in a separate statement.

One of the defendants, who saw himself as the “commander” of the cell, is said to have decided after the Jewish-Arab ethnic riots of 2021 to form a terror framework to fight security forces. He opened social media groups, including a public Instagram page, in which he published pro-jihad content, including content from Hamas and other terror groups, footage from the October 7, 2023, onslaught, praise for terrorists and explicit calls for armed struggle, jihad and martyrdom.

He recruited the other cell members through that activity, and gave each of them a nickname, branding one of them — who downloaded a video on how to make bombs — the “engineer.”

The four were arrested in May and June of this year, and an indictment was filed this morning. They are accused of conspiring to commit an act of terror, and training or getting guidance for terror purposes. The “commander” is also charged with incitement to terror and identifying with a terror group.