The Israeli Security Agency (ISA) and police revealed on Thursday that in November they arrested four Arab citizens of Israel from Jaljulia, located on the coast east of Herzliya, on suspicions of illegally selling weapons and taking part in violent riots during October. The four were named as Yahi Farid Ibrahim Abu Hajla, Fares Ismail Mahmoud Faki, Mahmoud Teysir Itman Fayume, and Uday Kaed Hassan Harbush, all from Jaljulia and aged between 18 and 22. Mahmoud Fayume was arrested as part of the investigation as he was returning to the coastal area town from Shechem (Nablus) in Samaria. In Shechem, he had met with a local weapons dealer about purchasing a handgun. Under interrogation, Fayume revealed his friends were also involved in the illegal weapons trade and let slip their support for the Hamas terrorist organization. Based on that information, the other three terrorists were arrested. In the investigation, Yahi Hajla revealed that he was involved in buying and selling weapons of various makes. From the ISA interrogation, it was also discovered that during October the four planned to conduct a shooting attack on a police car in Jaljulia, or else to burn a police station in the city by using firebombs - although in the end they got cold feet, fearing that they would be caught. It was also learned in the interrogation that Yahi Hajla, Fares Faki and Uday Harbush took part in violent riots, in which they burned tires and threw potentially lethal rocks at the police during the month of October. However, the investigation found that the four-man cell primarily dealt in crimes and weapons trade, as opposed to outright terror attacks and logistics. According to the ISA's estimation, the arrest of the four prevented them from becoming more actively involved in terrorism. Based on the findings of the investigation, the central district attorney's office submitted indictments against Mahmoud Fayume and Yahi Hajla at the Lod District Court on charges of weapons trade and criminal offenses. Indictments were submitted to the Magistrate's Court against Fares, Hajla and Harbush for disturbing the public order.
