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ISIS believed to have 100 members in Israel

Israeli officials believe that the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group has 100 activists in Israel, a year and a half since the group announced the establishment of a “caliphate” in parts of Syria and Iraq it captured.

Channel 10 News reported on Thursday that according to statistics, about 34 indictments have been filed against Israeli Arabs on charges related to belonging to the organization and 40 Arab citizens have already left Israel to join the jihadist group.

The Palestinian Authority estimates that ten Palestinian Arabs who have gone missing are believed to have crossed the border to the Sinai and Syria to join ISIS, according to the report.

ISIS has announced that it intends to recruit as many Israeli citizens as possible in order to carry out a large attack with as many casualties as possible, and is believed to be actively recruiting members.
The report came hours after two Arab Israelis from Nazareth and nearby Yafi'a in northern Israel were indicted on suspicion of plotting terror attacks on behalf of ISIS.

Baha Al-Din Masuara, 19, and Ahmed Nabil Ahmed, 21, were indicted on charges including providing support to an enemy during a time of war, making contact with a foreign agent, and support for the terrorist organization.

This is far from the first ISIS cell broken up by security forces. Previous cells have included both recruitment cells sending fighters to Syria and Iraq, as well as increasingly terror cells preparing to mount attacks on Israeli soil.

Most ISIS terror plots have been foiled in time by Israeli security forces, but the Shin Bet recently revealed that a February stabbing attack by an illegal infiltrator from Sudan was likely the jihadist group's first successful terror attack inside Israel.