By YAAKOV LAPPIN, YONAH JEREMY BOB, JPOST
Attacks were to take place at Mamilla mall during High Holidays; security forces uncover explosives lab at suspect’s home.
Security forces led by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced Sunday that they had foiled a bomb attack being plotted by Hamas militants in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which targeted a popular Jerusalem shopping mall during the upcoming Jewish High Holidays.
The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office has filed an indictment with the Jerusalem District Court against two of those allegedly involved in the plot – Ahmad Rishak, 23, from Shuafat and Ismail Abu Mfalfal, 27, from Abu Dis.
The two and other alleged Hamas members from Ramallah and Jerusalem were in the advanced planning stages of the terrorism plot, the Shin Bet said. The agency said the group was led by 22-year-old Ramallah resident Hamdi Romana and targeted the Mamilla open-air mall in central Jerusalem.
During the investigation, which included assistance from the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Police, security forces uncovered an explosives lab in Romana’s home in Ramallah, as well instruction manuals on how to bomb construction, the Shin Bet said.
Romana confessed to being in contact with three residents of the Ramallah area who provided him with bomb-making equipment. The three men were also arrested and have confessed, security forces said.
Around March, Romana went on to recruit Rishak and Mfalfal for the plot, and, taking advantage of their Israeli ID cards, ordered them to smuggle the bomb into Israel, the Shin Bet and the indictment indicated.
Rishak was recruited first, and on orders from Romana, Rishak eventually recruited Mfalfal, the indictment said.
The indictment claims that Mfalfal assisted with several aspects of the plot, including providing around 40 iron balls to include in the device to increase the number of potential casualties.
The two men, who were employed as maintenance workers in the Mamilla mall, were supposed to smuggle the bomb into the shopping center and hide it in a closet.
Following multiple meetings in July, the men were ordered to and to disguise the explosive device with wrapping paper to make it look like a gift, and plant it in a restaurant, store or trash can during one of the upcoming Jewish holiday, when the mall would be packed with shoppers.
“During questioning, members of the terror cell mentioned other initial plans to carry out additional attacks, including harming IDF soldiers by booby trapping homes in Ramallah, manufacturing and firing rockets at Israeli communities near Ramallah, and attempts to get hold of handguns to fire on IDF soldiers at the Hezma roadblock, northeast of Jerusalem,” the Shin Bet said.
More specifically, the indictment stated that while visiting the YMCA in Jerusalem, Rishak asked Mfalfal to get him a gun to attack soldiers.
The intelligence agency said the investigation revealed the high motivation that West Bank terror groups, led by Hamas, have to carry out attacks in Israel. The investigation also highlighted the significant danger posed by attempts to exploit Israeli ID card holders, who enjoy freedom of movement, to attack Israel, the Shin Bet noted.
Two recent terrorist attacks – the bomb near the Jerusalem Convention Center in 2011, and the Tel Aviv bus bombing of 2012, were launched by Hamas’s wing in the West Bank, and used Israeli ID card holders to plant the explosives.
The IDF Spokesman has not yet provided information about when Hamdi Romana would be indicted.
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