ROME – Three Palestinians were arrested in L’Aquila, Abruzzo, on terrorism charges for allegedly planning to blow up Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank with car bombs, police said.

 The suspects, named as Anan Kamal Afif Yaeesh, Ali Saji Ribhi Irar and Mansour Doghmosh, were arrested on Monday by L’Aquila police on charges of “association with the aim of terrorism, including international terrorism or the subversion of democratic order.”

 Police have alleged that the three men founded and financed Rapid Response Group – Tulkarm Brigades, which was formed “in response to Israeli security raids" in the Tulkarm refugee camp, one of the most densly populated camps in the West Bank. The group is affiliated with Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which is recognised by the EU as a terrorist organisation. The aim of the organisation is to carry out acts of violence in foreign states.

 In WhatsApp messages exchanged Jan. 9, 2024, between Yaeesh and Munir Almagdah, the military leader of Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Yaeesh wrote “this is a suicide unit, ready to act in depth and our action will be imminent.”

 The three men planned to use car bombs in the illegal Israeli settlement of Avnei Hefetz in the West Bank, which is recognised as Palestinian territory under the Oslo Accords. Avnei Hefetz is located about 7 miles south-east of the Palestinian city of Tulkarm, police sources said. Wiretaps and reviews of message revealed they had also planned to spread propaganda videos depicting militia and children engaged in military training. The men had also planned to film the attack in the West Bank with cameras on their snipers’ rifles.

 An extradition process has started for Anan Yaeesh, at the request of Israel who accused him of financing an armed faction of the Tulkarm Brigade in the Tulkarm refugee camp. Yaeesh has been living in L’Aquila since 2017 and had previously been detained Jan. 27 in Terni after Israeli authorities asked Italian authorities to arrest him.

 His lawyers, Flavio Rossi Albertini and Stefania Calvanese, filed a petition with L’Aquila’s Appeals Court, who said that if Yaeesh was extradited there would be a “concrete” risk that the Palestinian would be “subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment” including “torture” by Israeli authorities.

 The Tulkarm Brigade has been involved in fighting throughout the Gaza strip since Oct. 7 as Israeli bombardments continue. 

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