An Israeli court indicted a Palestinian citizen of Israel on Thursday for aiding three other Palestinian citizens of Israel in a deadly shooting attack at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in July that left the three Palestinian assailants and two Israeli police officers dead.
Israeli news website Ynet reported that Amjad Jabarin, 35, from the village of Umm al-Fahm — the hometown of the assailants Muhammad Hamid Abd al-Latif Jabarin, 19, Muhammad Ahmad Mufdal Jabarin, 19, and Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin, 29 — was charged with accessory to murder, accessory to battery, use of weapons, obstruction of justice, and conspiring to commit a crime.
According to Ynet, Amjad Jabarin brought the weapons used in the attack into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the assailants, who on the day of the attack, allegedly retrieved the weapons hidden inside the compound and proceeded towards the Lions’ Gate area where they shot and killed the two police officers.
Ynet added that according to an investigation by the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal intelligence agency, “the terror cell” was formed at the Al-Malsa Mosque in Umm al-Fahm, where Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin allegedly worked as a caretaker and muezzin.
The mosque, according to Ynet, is affiliated with the outlawed northern branch of the Islamic Movement, and was also used by the men to hide the weapons prior to the attack on July 14.
Amjad Jabarin allegedly met two of the assailants during prayers at the mosque, and according to Ynet, participated in a “target practice” prior to the attack. Ynet added that Ahmad Jabarin declined an invitation to join the group of three men in the attack.
Amjad Jabarin drove two of the assailants the night before the attack to a bus stop from which they travelled to occupied East Jerusalem, allegedly with the knowledge that they were armed and on their way to carry out an attack.
“The terrorists entrusted the accomplice Jabarin with their cellphones, messages to their families and the keys to the mosque, which he hid following the attack. One of the terrorists also gave him 500 shekels ($139), telling Jabarin he would no longer need money, while another gave him his car keys asking Amjad to give them to the former’s father,” Ynet said.
Ynet added that while the three assailants allegedly had ties to the outlawed Islamic Movement, Amjad Jabarin active in another outlawed movement that has ties to the Islamic Movement and Hamas.
Also on Thursday, an Israeli court indicted the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, charging him with “incitement” following comments he made after the July attack carried out by the three Palestinians from Umm al-Fahm.
[Source: Ma’an News]