Shin Bet uncovers Bedouin terror cell plotting attacks on police station, Beersheba bus station

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) released a statement on Thursday announcing that a terrorist cell modeled after the Palestinian Battalions of the West Bank was uncovered in the Bedouin community of Segev Shalom.

According to the statement, five suspects were arrested for interrogation in May and June, with the interrogations revealing that Arab Israeli citizens in the Negev planned to establish a terror battalion in the town of Segev Shalom, just outside of Beersheba, in order to carry out acts of terror.

Five individuals interrogated by Shin Bet revealed their roles in a terror cell

The Shin Bet detailed the roles of the five individuals under their custody.

The cell leader, inspired by the terror battalions of the West Bank, worked over an extended period of time to recruit cell members and establish a terror cell in the region. He also incited against the State of Israel on his social media accounts.

A second member allegedly agreed to carry out attacks, namely, a shooting at the Segev Shalom police station, as well as a shooting at the Beersheba Central Bus Station. A third person agreed to serve as the battalion's "engineer," creating explosives for the group.

A fourth member, a minor, planned to carry out an attack with an explosive device. The Shin Bet said that interrogations revealed that he is an ISIS supporter and had been planning to carry out a stabbing in the terror group's name.

The fifth member held in custody expressed willingness to participate in an attack against the Segev Shalom police station.

Shin Bet arrests terrorist planning Beersheba nightclub attack

The Shin Bet statement further detailed an attack that was planned on a Beersheba nightclub that was uncovered following the arrest and interrogation of Israeli citizen Abdullah Jarjawi.

The investigation revealed that he "incited terror, planned an attack at the 'Forum' nightclub in Beersheba, maintained contact with ISIS operatives, and expressed an intent to travel to combat zones abroad on behalf of ISIS - all while identifying with various terror organizations, including ISIS and Hamas."

All of the aforementioned suspects were charged earlier this year with terror offenses in the Beersheba District Court.

Dozens arrested in 2026 in connection with terrorist activities

In the statement, the Shin Bet revealed that 72 residents of the South have been arrested for interrogation since the beginning of 2026.

Some 67 of the residents are Israeli citizens, with state-issued Israeli ID cards, suspected of undertaking activities to endanger state security. These suspected acts include terror activities, weapons smuggling, and more.

Indictments have been filed against approximately 50 of the detainees.

A senior Shin Bet official stated: "These investigations, along with additional arrests, illustrate the security risk posed by the establishment of cells composed of Israeli citizens - some paramilitary - seeking to execute terror attacks within Israel.

"Their activities were nipped in the bud through counterterrorism operations by the Shin Bet and the Israel Police. The cases detailed above demonstrate that over a short timeframe, various operatives residing in the Negev were exposed seeking to advance terror activity against Israeli targets, posing a genuine risk to state security."

Head of the Shin Bet David Zini warned during a Political-Security Cabinet meeting on Monday of unprecedented terrorist organization efforts in Bedouin communities in the Negev.

"There are places in the Bedouin diaspora with military infrastructure that we are constantly thwarting, attempts to establish quasi-military battalions; this is a very concerning phenomenon," he said.

RCUVN: 'No battalion here,' Shin Bet involved in 'racist incitement'

The Regional Council for Unrecognized Villages in the Negev (RCUVN) responded to the statement, rejecting the Shin Bet's findings.

"The Shin Bet is lying again, and blatantly so," they said.

"We checked all press releases from the Police's Negev District since the beginning of the year (we did not check the Rotem District). We found 36 detainees and defendants in cases involving the Shin Bet, half of the 72 the Shin Bet claimed. And out of those 36? Only five are suspected or accused of explicit security offenses. The other 31 are suspected of purely criminal offenses."

"And let us assume for a moment that every single one of the 72 detainees since the beginning of the year was a security threat. They were not. Maybe 10% of them were, but assuming they were - even then, there is no 'battalion' here, and certainly no 'battalions,'" the statement added.

"We are tired of living in a state that has neglected us for decades; that pushes us into deep poverty; that discriminates against us in land allocation by a factor of 56 compared to our Jewish neighbors," the statement reads.

"When the consequences surface among a tiny minority of a minority, the state exploits them for racist incitement against an entire population, just for another headline and a few more Knesset seats."

The statement asserted that the vast majority of the Bedouin population are law-abiding citizens despite systemic pushes that "prevent us from living in peace like any other citizen."

The RCUVN accused Zini of inciting racism in a calculated attempt to descend Israel into a dictatorship, while reinforcing ostracization from the international community and leading to social and economic collapse.

"The story here is not Bedouin society, but the character and future of the State of Israel," the RCUVN statement concluded.