Israeli Intelligence Foils Terrorist Poison Plot in Ramat Gan

by Hana Levi Julian
April 10, 2008

Grill Express restaurant (Photo: Yaron Brenner)

Two Palestinian Authority Arab workers in a Ramat Gan restaurant had, unbeknownst to their employer quietly been recruited by Hizbullah operatives and were planning to carry out a terrorist attacked, it was revealed Thursday.

The two residents of the PA-controlled Samarian city of Shechem were illegally employed by the "Grill Express" restaurant on HaYarkon Street in Ramat Gan.

Ihab Yehye Ahmed Abu Riyal and Anas Mustafa Said Salum

Both 21-year-olds, identified as Ihab Yehye Ahmed Abu Riyal and Anas Mustafa Said Salum, had been assigned to a unit of the Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades terrorist organization of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction after their initial recruitment by the Lebanese-based Hizbullah operatives.

The two were to have received the poison from two fugitive PA terrorists, Hani Ka'abi and Hosni Tzalag, fugitives from the Balata neighborhood of Shechem, who organized the technical aspects of the attack. The cell also considered the merits of infiltrating a suicide bomber into the area with the assistance of the two restaurant workers as well.

The poison itself was to have been a white, odorless and tasteless powder with a slow-release component which would have been undetectable when slipped into the food, thus allowing for harm to the maximum number of diners, according to security officials.

The would-be terrorists were arrested on March 19 in a joint operation by intelligence officers from the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and the Israel Police, several days before the attack - which would have been the first of its kind - was to have been carried out.

"It should be emphasized that the terrorist infrastructure headed by Hani Ka'abi is currently active in attempting to perpetrate other terrorist attacks, possibly with the assistance of other [PA Arabs] illegally present in Israel," stated a spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office.

Police say the owners of the Grill Express will face charges for illegally employing Palestinian Authority Arabs.