Arrest of Six Arab Citizens of Israel on Charges of Supporting the Islamic State

Israel's internal security agency, Shin Bet, announced that it has arrested six Arab citizens of the country on charges of collaborating with and supporting the Islamic State (formerly known as ISIS). Israeli media reported on Tuesday, July 6, citing Shin Bet's report, that these six Arabs were Bedouins living in the Negev desert in southern Israel. According to these reports, four of the arrested individuals were teachers in the Hura area, one of the residential areas for Bedouin Arabs. Shin Bet reported that these individuals had been promoting support for the Islamic State among students and other teachers. Naftali Bennett, Israel's Minister of Education, stated that he was shocked by the news of Arab Bedouin teachers supporting ISIS, adding that the Israeli government would not tolerate this. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also mentioned during a ceremony commemorating the military casualties from last summer's war in Gaza that anyone, including ISIS, who seeks to harm Israel should know that their blood will be on their own hands. In recent months, Shin Bet has also arrested several Arab citizens after the black flag of ISIS was raised in Arab areas of northern Israel. The arrest of six Bedouin Arabs in Israel on charges of supporting the Islamic State comes amid a new threat from the group to 'destroy' Hamas. This is the second threatening message from the Islamic State regarding the 'destruction' of Hamas. Last week, an audio file released featuring an Islamic State member emphasized that 'soon Hamas will be removed from power in Gaza, and all secular Fatah members and the Jewish state will also be destroyed.' However, the new message is a more decisive warning from the Islamic State to Hamas in Gaza and other Palestinian areas. Following ISIS's threats against Hamas, several Israeli security figures have called for cooperation with Hamas to jointly combat the Islamic State. Meanwhile, Israeli General Sami Turjman recently stated that some Hamas forces had collaborated with armed militants who inflicted heavy casualties on Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai desert last week; an accusation that Hamas denied. However, some Egyptian officials told Reuters that there is suspicion that several ISIS fighters in recent attacks in northern Egypt entered Egyptian territory through tunnels between Gaza and Egypt, bringing weapons for the extensive attacks in the Sinai last week. In the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week in the Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid areas, dozens of Egyptian soldiers were killed; the Egyptian army also reported inflicting 'heavy' casualties on Islamic State militants in Sinai.