Israeli man accused of plotting to blow up bus for Islamic State

An Arab Israeli man has been indicted over alleged plans for terror attacks on behalf of the Islamic State group, including bus bombings directed against IDF soldiers.

The suspect, Anas Haj Yihya, was charged in a Tel Aviv court with belonging to a terrorist organization and with multiple counts of contact with a foreign agent.

In his contacts with Islamic State members, Yihya was told to carry out attacks against soldiers, including blowing up buses filled with soldiers in central Tel Aviv, which he agreed to, according to the charge sheet.

Yihya also allegedly distributed information to IS members on how to create sarin gas, a deadly nerve agent, as well as how to manufacture explosive belts, bombs with cellphone triggers and which poisons can be added to explosives in order to make them more lethal, according to the Shin Bet security service.

Yihya, 35, was arrested on January 29, but details of the case were kept under a gag order until the indictment was filed today, the Shin Bet says.

The suspect made contact with other IS agents through internet forums, beginning last year, according to the indictment filed against him.

It was there that he also formally pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

He comes from the Arab Israeli town of Tayibe in central Israel, which is not to be confused with the Palestinian village of the same name.

— Judah Ari Gross