Rahat citizen arrested for planning to bomb Ashdod hotel

A resident of the Bedouin city of Rahat has been indicted in a Beersheba District Court on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack against an Ashdod hotel, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced on Sunday.

The Shin Bet, in cooperation with the Israel Police, arrested 20-year-old Adel Abu Hadayeb from Rahat in June, after he purchased materials to make a homemade explosive. Hadayeb, a Hamas supporter, was arrested with five hand grenades and a Carlo sub-machine gun.

According to the investigation, Hadayeb began to support Hamas after he was exposed to the Gazan group’s propaganda on the Internet, and that he had tried to prepare a bomb in order to carry out an attack against a hotel in Ashdod that he had known from his work as a gardener nearby.

The Shin Bet also accused Hadayeb of trying to prepare a rocket, and that he had purchased materials for this purpose.

“The Shin Bet views with severity the involvement of Israeli civilians in terrorist activity, some of whom are influenced by Hamas propaganda disseminated on social networks and through Palestinian media,” the internal security agency said in a statement.

Hadayeb was indicted for several offenses, including conspiracy to commit a crime (arms trafficking), weapons offenses (arms transfers), weapons offenses (arms possession), weapons offenses (weapons procurement) and weapons offenses (firearms). He was also indicted for attempting to make a bomb, an attempt to carry out an attack against a sensitive facility for terrorist purposes, and disruption of legal proceedings.

He was ordered by the court to be detained until the end of the legal proceedings against him.