Jerusalem resident detained for suspected Iranian spy plot

JERUSALEM: An Israeli resident of Jerusalem has been arrested on suspicion of being in contact with Iranian intelligence agents as part of a plot to carry out an attack in Israel in return for payment, Israeli security forces said on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old man was activated by an Iranian agent known as “John” in October and arrested in November on suspicion of committing security offences, said a joint statement from spokeswomen for the Shin Bet security service and Israel police.

It said their investigation showed he had proposed cutting off the power to the Jerusalem light rail system and sent a video to his Iranian operator in an attempt to locate the power supply.

It said he searched social networks to purchase a gun, a silencer and materials to produce explosives for the purpose of carrying out an attack in Israel.

The suspect had been detained and an indictment was expected in coming days, the statement read.

Reuters reported last week on the arrest of almost 30 mostly Jewish citizens who allegedly spied for Iran in nine covert cells in what four Israeli security sources said was Tehran’s biggest effort in decades to infiltrate its arch foe.

The arrests followed repeated Iranian intelligence efforts over the last two years to recruit ordinary Israelis to gather intelligence and carry out attacks in exchange for money, the four officials said.

Israeli airstrikes killed extended families in homes in Gaza Strip

Meanwhile, huge Israeli airstrikes killed extended families in homes in two parts of the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, while tanks in the south pushed towards a humanitarian zone on the Mediterranean coast, forcing displaced families to take flight again.

Medics said at least 10 people were confirmed killed in an airstrike on a house in the Daraj suburb of Gaza City that destroyed the building and damaged nearby houses.

Further north, in the town of Beit Lahiya which has been under Israeli siege since early October, at least 15 people were believed to be dead or missing under rubble of a house hit by an airstrike around dawn, said medics. Rescuers were unable to reach the site to confirm the toll.

At least 10 other Palestinians were killed in separate strikes elsewhere in Gaza City and Beit Lahiya, medics said.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Tuesday’s strikes. Israel says it targets militants and blames any harm to civilians on fighters for operating among them, which the fighters deny.

In Beit Lahiya Israel has been operating since October in what it calls an offensive to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping; Palestinians say the army aims to depopulate a buffer zone on the enclave’s northern edge, which Israel denies.

In the southern part of the enclave, in Rafah near the border with Egypt, Israeli tanks pushed deeper towards the western area of Mawasi, forcing dozens of families to flee northwards towards Khan Younis, residents said.

Hours later, residents said the army blew up several houses in the area and set several tents ablaze.

Israel has previously designated Mawasi, along the Mediterranean coast, as a humanitarian area. Thousands of Palestinians have lived there in tents for months, having obeyed Israeli orders to move there from other areas for safety.

Footage circulating on social media showed lines of thick black and grey smoke rising from the area beside the tent encampment. Reuters could not immediately verify the time or exact location of the images.

The war began when the Palestinian militant group Hamas stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel then launched an air and land offensive that has killed more than 45,000 people, mostly civilians, according to authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

The campaign has displaced nearly the entire population and left much of the enclave in ruins.