The Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced the arrest of Arab terrorist Eslam Froukh on Tuesday, in connection with the November 23 twin bombings at Jerusalem bus stops that killed two people and injured over 20 others. He was arrested on November 29, at a factory he works at in Mishor Adumim industrial zone.
Froukh, a 26-year-old mechanic, is described as having Salafi ideology and identification with the Islamic State terror group (ISIS).
Froukh alternated living in Ramallah and in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Kafr Aqab and had no previous history of security offenses.
The Shin Bet stated that the investigation had a breakthrough over the weekend following the bombings with the discovery of a scooter, five pipe bombs, and other items allegedly used by Froukh. He had a ready-to-activate bomb as well as a Carlo submachine gun.
He had planned to commit additional attacks.
According to the Shin Bet, Froukh learned to make explosives and practiced in a pit he dug in the Binyamin region north of Jerusalem, where police found materials for producing explosive charges. He found the instruction to make his bombs online. He planned the attacks on his own over an extended period of time.
Froukh had a bachelor of applied science degree from the Azrieli College of Engineering in Jerusalem, according to his LinkedIn profile.
בלעדי: תמונת המחבל אסלאם פרוק בפתח מכללת עזריאלי בירושלים בה למד @hakolhayehudi https://t.co/Z1h4rXvvIV pic.twitter.com/Ap3x91jIik
— אלחנן גרונר (@elchangr) December 27, 2022
The victims of the terror bombings were Tedsa Teshuma, a 50-year-old Ethiopian immigrant, and Aryeh Shechopak, a 16-year-old Canadian-Israeli yeshiva student.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid vowed to “deal with terrorists and those who dispatch them to the fullest extent of the law.”
Footage showing the terrorist planting one of the bombs:
רוכב על אופנוע ומניח את המטען: תיעוד חדש מהפיגוע הכפול בירושלים@HGoldich https://t.co/2zX3Fai4Ml pic.twitter.com/6sDPIGPwoZ
— ynet עדכוני (@ynetalerts) December 27, 2022
Content by JNS, Pesach Benson/TPS and Baruch Yedid/TPS was used in this report.
