A major attack on a hotel in Jerusalem was averted at the last minute: terrorist A 21-year-old resident of East Jerusalem, who worked until his arrest last month at a well-known hotel in the city center, is accused of being manipulated for months by a Hamas terrorist from Cyprus.
According to a report by Lee Ayish on the i24 channel, the hotel employee provided his operator with information about checkpoints, security forces, and targets in Israel, and collected information for him about soldiers who stayed at the hotel where he worked.
He was employed there without hindrance, despite his security past.
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According to the report, a serious indictment was filed against him in recent days.
His activities began when he contacted a relative, a Hamas official living in Cyprus, via Telegram. The operator introduced himself as someone responsible for transporting explosive devices to Nablus, Jenin, and Tulkarm.
The hotel employee expressed a desire to go to Lebanon or Syria to fight against Israel, but was convinced to stay in Jerusalem and join Hamas activities from within Israel itself.
In one case, he reported to his operator about a large group of Air Force school students who were supposed to be staying at the hotel, and gave him the dates, names, number of participants, and even the room numbers in which they were supposed to stay.
The operator later asked him if he could assist in the event that a terrorist was sent to carry out an attack on the hotel.
In response, he replied: "I am ready to carry out a suicide attack myself.".
Only by a miracle, following the war, was the group's arrival at the hotel canceled and the attack did not take place.
The hotel manager confirmed in his testimony that the group was indeed supposed to stay there.
Even after that, the defendant continued to transmit information to his operator, and later sent a belt photo of a female soldier and photos of two guards who visited the hotel.
According to the report, the terrorist's path to radicalization began in January 2023, when he was involved in throwing two pipe bombs at security forces during the demolition of the home of the terrorist who murdered IDF fighter Noa Lazar. Ultimately, one of the bombs did explode.
Later, he and another friend learned how to make explosive devices, and even planned an attack against soldiers at the Anatot base.
