Two Arab-Israeli citizens from the western Galilee have been indicted on suspicion that they were recruited by Hezbollah to carry out attacks in the country for the Iranian-backed terrorist group.

The two men, 55-year-old Sultan Atallah from the Druze village of Yarka and 33-year-old Rami Shami from the village of Jadida, were arrested in a joint operation of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Israel Police and IDF in February.

The two men met with two Lebanese citizens known to be weapons and drug smugglers, Hussein Sheet and Akram Sheet, from the south Lebanon village of Kfar Kila in Turkey from November 20-23. According to the Shin Bet, during the meeting, Hussein Shit asked them to smuggle weapons into Israel and to bury them in areas where other individuals recruited by Hezbollah would later take them.

The two were also asked to lay the groundwork for terrorist attacks including kidnappings in Israel. They were said to have been promised a large sum of money if they could abduct Israeli citizens or provide information on suitable targets.

They were also asked to locate sensitive sites within the State of Israel for Hezbollah to strike during war.

The investigation also revealed that Shami, who had previously been convicted of drug smuggling and had spent time in prison, received similar requests and worked to smuggle drugs and weapons into Israeli territory. An MP5 submachine gun was found during the investigation.

According to a statement released by the Shin Bet, the investigation into the two men revealed that Hezbollah attempted to recruit and build a terrorist network in Israel for Iranian intelligence agents using drug traffickers in Lebanon who smuggle drugs into Israel.

The statement said that Atallah understood that Hussein Sheet was a Hezbollah member, and was told that Hezbollah and Iran “want to regain control of the region and seek revenge on Israel for its actions by transferring weapons to the organization’s dormant cells in Israel in order to arm them for ‘emergencies’ and in order to harm senior Israeli officials, military officers and politicians”.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-701784