4 Arab Israelis arrested, indicted over plot for mass terror attack at Beersheba bus station

Suspects said to have decided to use guns because knives would be insufficient; also planned shooting attack at Segev Shalom police station; group leader published pro-terror content

Four Israeli citizens from the Bedouin town of Segev Shalom were arrested and indicted over plans to carry out various terror-related activities, including a mass shooting attack at Beersheba’s central bus station, the Israel Police, Shin Bet and the State Prosecutor’s Office said Friday.

The cell from the town, also known as Shaqib al-Salam, initially planned a stabbing attack at the Beersheba bus station, but then changed the plan to a shooting, believing knives would be insufficient, the prosecutors said in a statement.

One of the defendants, who saw himself as the “commander” of the cell, is said to have decided after the Jewish-Arab ethnic riots of 2021 to form a terror framework to fight security forces.

He opened social media groups, including a public Instagram page, in which he published pro-jihad content, including content from Hamas and other terror groups, footage from the October 7, 2023, onslaught, praise for terrorists and explicit calls for armed struggle, jihad and martyrdom.

He recruited the other cell members through that activity, and gave each of them a nickname, branding one of them — who downloaded a video on how to make bombs — the “engineer.”

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The four also planned to carry out a shooting attack at the Segev Shalom police station, and to form a “terror infrastructure” aimed at harming security forces operating in the community, the police and Shin Bet said in a joint statement.

The four were arrested in May and June of this year, and an indictment was filed Friday morning.

The four are accused of conspiring to commit an act of terror, and training or getting guidance for terror purposes.

The apparent commander of the group was additionally charged with incitement to terror and identifying with a terror group.

There have been several terror attacks at the Beersheba bus station over the years, including the 2024 killing of 19-year-old Border Police officer Sgt. Shira Suslik, and a 2015 attack in which 19-year-old IDF Sgt. Omri Levy was killed, and innocent bystander Haftom Zarhum, 29, was shot and beaten by the crowd when he was mistaken for a terrorist.

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