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Pharmacy Student Charged with Plotting Mass Attack on Jews
A 22-year-old pharmacy student and assistant from Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem, identified as Muhammad Shalabi, was indicted in the Jerusalem District Court on Thursday, October 8, 2026. He is accused of planning mass-casualty terrorist attacks against Israeli security forces and Jewish civilians using explosives and lethal poisons.
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What happened
- 01Muhammad Shalabi, a 22-year-old pharmacy student from Beit Hanina, was indicted on Thursday for planning mass-casualty terrorist attacks.
- 02The indictment accuses Shalabi of planning to use explosives and lethal poisons against security forces and Jewish civilians.
- 03Shalabi reportedly radicalized after October 7, 2023, and consumed content associated with the terrorist organizations Hamas and ISIS.
- 04He allegedly purchased chemical materials in Ramallah and conducted a chemical experiment in his home bathroom to test them.
- 05In early 2025, Shalabi surveilled law enforcement officers for two months to bomb them over parking tickets, but abandoned the plot.
- 06Following the abandoned plot, Shalabi planned a larger-scale attack, stating his intention to kill "many Jews."
- 07The Shin Bet arrested Shalabi, and the State Attorney's Office is seeking his detention until the conclusion of legal proceedings.
According to the indictment, Shalabi, a third-year student at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, underwent ideological radicalization following the October 7, 2023, attacks and the subsequent Swords of Iron War. He systematically consumed content associated with Hamas and ISIS, deciding to leverage his academic knowledge and access to chemicals for terrorist purposes. He reportedly downloaded bomb-making instructions and poison formulas, purchased chemical materials in Ramallah, and conducted a chemical experiment in his home bathroom.
In early 2025, angered by parking tickets issued to worshippers near a mosque in Beit Hanina, Shalabi monitored law enforcement officers for two months and planned to target them with an explosive device. He abandoned this plan when the officers stopped frequenting the area. Subsequently, he conceived a larger-scale attack, expressing a desire to kill "many Jews." He was arrested by the Shin Bet, and prosecutors are seeking his detention until the conclusion of legal proceedings.
Summarized by baba from the reports of 14 newsrooms. Updated
Latest report: Ynetnews. Read Ynetnews’s original
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