Israeli media is reporting that an Israeli man, said to have connections to the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, was indicted for allegedly helping three gunmen who killed two police officers outside the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. According to the Times of Israel report:
August 29, 2017 An Arab Israeli man was indicted Thursday for assisting the three gunmen who killed two police officers just outside the Temple Mount compound last month.
The Shin Bet security service said the suspect, 35-year-old Amjad Muhammad Ahmad Jabarin from the city of Umm al-Fahm, transported the three terrorists to Jerusalem, spoke with them about their plans ahead of time, and ‘even offered to join them in carrying out the attack on at least two occasions.’
During his interrogation, Jabarin also revealed connections between the three terrorists — all of them named Muhammad Jabarin from Umm al-Fahm — and the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, the Shin Bet said.
On July 14, at approximately 3:00 a.m., the three gunmen, all of whom were named Muhammad Jabarin, arrived at the Temple Mount from Umm al-Fahm for prayers with guns and a knife hidden under their clothes. The weapons had been smuggled into the site by an accomplice.
They remained at the holy site for four hours, before walking out toward the Muslim Quarter. Just after 7:00 a.m., they opened fire at two Israel Police officers, Haiel Sitawe, 30, and Kamil Shnaan, 22, who were stationed at one of the entrances to the Temple Mount, killing them. Other police officers on the scene shot back at the terrorists, killing them.
Master Sgt. Kamil Shnaan, left, and Master Sgt. Haiel Sitawe, right, the police officers killed in the terror attack next to the Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem on July 14, 2017. (Israel Police)
Amjad Jabarin was arrested on July 23, nine days after the attack. On Thursday, he was formally charged in a Haifa District Court as an accessory to murder.
Read the rest here.
The killing of the police officers and the subsequent Israel security measures sparked a wave of protests in Europe for which an organization tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood claimed responsibility.
In November 2015, we reported that the Israeli government had effectively outlawed the so-called Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, essentially comprising the Israeli Muslim Brotherhood. Raed Salah is the leader of the Northern branch and is noted for often alleging that Israel is conspiring to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque. (Al-Aqsa is often the subject of various Global Muslim Brotherhood conspiracies theories involving alleged Israeli plots and plans to destroy the mosque). Earlier this week we recommended a new profile on Salah titled “The Rise Of Raed Salah, Israel’s Islamist Leader Who Wants Jerusalem At The Heart Of A Caliphate.” In January 2017, the GMBDW reported that Salah has been released from prison after serving a nine-month sentence for incitement to violence and racism.
Other GMBDW reporting on Salah and the Northern Branch has included:
- In October 2015, we reported on Raed Salah and the key role played by the Muslim Brotherhood in Israel in the wave of violence that gripped the country at that time.
- In August 2015, we reported that Israel’s Internal Security minister had asked the Minister of Defense to urgently ban two organizations operating on the Temple Mount and funded by the Islamic Movement. According to another Israeli media report at the time, Raed Salah spoke out against the move saying that Arabs who attack police and Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount represent “the ‘honor’ of the Muslim nation and the Arab world”
- We reported in January 2015 that the internal security service Shin Bet had shut down three Islamic charities for allegedly inciting violence against Jews and Israeli security forces. According to an Israel Hayom report, the charities were created in October 2014 by the northern branch of the Islamic movement in Israel.
- In June 2014, we reported on claims by the Shin Bet that a senior Hamas official arrested in April had admitted that Hamas is exploiting the Islamic Movement in Israel to promote its interests in Jerusalem. We had reported a few days earlier that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to outlaw the Northern branch of the Islamic Movement..
For an opinion piece alleging that the killers of the two policemen were inspired by Raed Salah, go here.
For an overview of Al-Aqsa protests sponsored by the GMB/Hamas, go here .