Israel Arrests Woman Suspected of Joining Terrorist Group

Israel last month arrested an Arab-Israeli woman on suspicion of illegally traveling to Syria and joining Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of Al-Qaida, it was revealed on Sunday after a gag order was lifted. Ranwa Shinawi spent a year in Syria and was arrested by Israel’s Shin Bet security service upon her return to the Jewish state on May 7. The 22-year old was indicted on Friday at the Haifa District Court for allegedly making contact with a foreign agent, attempting to join a terrorist organization and other offenses, and was accused of assaulting her Shin Bet interrogators. “Since 2017, the defendant has shown an increasing desire to die ‘a martyr’s death’ through jihadist activity due to, inter alia, the actions of the Israeli security forces at the Aqsa Mosque, which the defendant saw as [a] humiliation of Muslim worshipers,” the indictment stated. The Shin Bet added that the investigation revealed an “extreme ideological outlook, most of whose advocates support Islamic State and have a deep hatred for Jews.”