Israeli Arab Charged with Tel Aviv Bus Bombing
An 18-year-old Israeli Arab was on Wednesday indicted for planting a bomb on a bus in Tel Aviv that wounded 29 people at the height of last month's eight-day conflict between Israel and militants in Gaza.
In a hearing at Tel Aviv Magistrates Court, Mohammed Mafarja, a resident of Taibe village in central Israel, was charged with aiding the enemy during war, dozens of counts of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit a crime, causing an explosion and wounding dozens of people.
According to the charge sheet, Mafarja got on a Tel Aviv bus on November 21 and placed a bomb there which was activated after he got off, with his accomplice Ahmed Moussa using a cellphone to remotely trigger the blast.
The two had decided "to stand by Gaza and avenge the death of (Hamas military commander) Ahmed Jaabari," whose killing by Israel on November 14 set off the bloodshed, the Tel Aviv district attorney's office said.
"They therefore decided to aid Hamas and attack innocent Israelis."
A statement from the Shin Bet domestic security agency said Moussa was a Hamas activist from Beit Liqya in the West Bank and headed the cell behind the attack, which also included two other residents from the same village.
It said Moussa had gathered intelligence ahead of the attack, built the bomb and handed it to Mafarja before eventually detonating it.
It named Fuad Assi and Mohammad Damra as the other members of the group who were aware of the preparations for the bombing and also involved in planning other future attacks.
The Shin Beit said Mafarja had been living in Beit Liqya since September and had been chosen by Moussa to plant the bomb since, as an Israeli citizen, he enjoyed free access to the city.
The Tel Aviv prosecutor's office said the other three suspects were still being investigated and that any charges against them would be made in a military court.
Source: Agence France Presse
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