The Shin Bet security agency and Israeli police said on Tuesday that security forces arrested an Arab Israeli affiliated with the Islamic State jihadist group for a deadly twin bombing in Jerusalem last month.
During the November 23 attack, Eslam Froukh, 26, allegedly detonated two bombs at two bus stops near the entrances to the capital. The attacks killed two people – Aryeh Schupak, 16, and Tadese Tashume Ben Ma’ada, 50 – and injured more than 20.
According to the Shin Bet, Froukh, an Israeli resident of Kafr ‘Aqab in East Jerusalem who lived mostly in the Ramallah area, carried out the attack because of his affiliation with Islamic State.
The agency said Froukh, a mechanical engineer by trade, acted alone and taught himself how to make the bombs used in the attack, using guides on the internet.
The Shin Bet said Froukh sought to detonate another bomb as security and medical forces treated victims at the scene of the second attack, but encountered technical problems and did not end up planting it.
In the days following the attack, security forces near the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim found several items apparently used by the terrorist in the attack, including a motorized scooter, helmet, clothing spares – used before, during and after the attack. attack attack – and five pipe bombs.
Tadasa Tashume Ben Ma’ada, 50 (right) and Aryeh Schupak, 16, killed in a bombing at the entrance to Jerusalem on November 23, 2022. (Courtesy)
The Shin Bet said the items helped them identify the attacker, who was arrested days later.
In another area of the West Bank, near Ramallah, security forces located the site where Froukh allegedly tested his explosive devices. The Shin Bet said troops seized explosive materials, a makeshift submachine gun and a primed bomb similar to those used in the Jerusalem attack.
Pipe bombs, a makeshift pistol and other items believed to belong to Eslam Froukh, the suspected terrorist behind the November 2022 bombings in Jerusalem. (Shin Bet)
The agency said it suspected Froukh of planning another attack using the explosive device and the weapon.
Several other suspects were arrested in the days following the attack, but all were released.
Prosecutors are expected to file an indictment against Froukh in the coming days, which will include murder charges and other terrorism charges.
Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid hailed Froukh’s arrest, saying Israel would hit “any terrorist or terrorist group”.
“I have been following the complex investigation closely and have been briefed on its details. I commend the Shin Bet, the police, the IDF and all security forces for the investigation that led to the terrorist’s capture” , he said in a statement.
As we promised, we joined him. Israel will reach out to any terrorist who harms its citizens and will treat them with all the severity of the law,” he added.
The bombings came amid heightened tensions, following a series of Palestinian bombings that have claimed 31 lives in Israel and the West Bank since the start of the year.
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