The FBI has arrested a suspect in a planned mass terrorist attack on the Israeli consulate in New York City. The suspect, Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassanan 18-year-old Egyptian citizen living in Falls Church, Virginia, instructed a man who was actually an FBI informant to carry out the attack according to a criminal complaint filed Monday. Afterwards, the Washington Post confirmed that Taha Mohamed Hassan was a freshman at George Mason Universityy. Hassan ran numerous social media profiles that supported ISIS, al-Qaeda And Hamas, and promoted violence against Jews, the FBI said in a complaint filed in federal court in Virginia. The 14-page charging document, kept confidential, describes a series of carefully organized actions, including detailed instructions for creating explosives, purchasing weapons and advice on how to leave the United States after the attack.
Unmasked by an undercover agent
Law enforcement identified Hassan after receiving a tip regarding one of his profiles on Platform X. An FBI agent, operating undercover, initiated an interaction with Hassan using social media and secure messaging applications. During these exchanges, Hassan allegedly provided the agent with information on how to join ISIS and shared jihadist propaganda content, including videos inciting violence against Jews. Furthermore, according to what is reported in the complaint, Hassan encouraged the agent to carry out an attack, providing him with detailed instructions for the creation of “martyrdom videos”. The suspect, who claimed to be in New York, allegedly provided the informant with the necessary instructions to build a bomb, specifying to “hit a building associated with the Jewish community”, subsequently indicating the Israeli consulate as the target. Directions for the construction of the bomb should include the advice to “use 30mm aluminum ball bearings to create shrapnel, thus ensuring the effectiveness of the device.” Hassan also allegedly gave instructions to the informant on how to monitor the consulate and plan his escape to the so-called “Siraq” after the attack. Furthermore, he allegedly suggested that one could “prove chaos by using an assault rifle instead of a bomb and live streaming the attack, thus allowing him to deliver the video to ISIS.” According to what is reported in the complaint, these conversations took place between last month and this month. Hassan, arrested on December 17 according to documents filed in court, is accused of crimes related to the dissemination of information on explosives and weapons of mass destruction. Ofir Akunis, Israeli consul general in New York, as the Times of Israel writes, thanked the US security services for having foiled the attack: «This attempted attack by terrorist organizations is an attack on the sovereign soil of the State of Israel in its entirety. It is proof that terror knows no borders and that we must fight it everywhere and at all times.” In recent months the FBI and three other security agencies have prevented further terrorist attacks against Jews in New York. In September, a man was arrested in Canada while trying to enter the United States to attack a Jewish center in Brooklyn in support of ISIS while last July, a neo-Nazi was indicted for planning mass attacks against Jews in New York City by distributing poisoned candy to Jewish children.
Isis Khorasan danger in the United States
In recent months, a series of arrests in United States and in other Western countries it has highlighted the increase in threats linked to this extremist group. Over the summer, eight citizens of Tajikistan, suspected of having possible links to ISIS, were apprehended in the United States after crossing the southern border. The arrests, however, were committed for violations of immigration regulations, without any connection to terrorist activity. In late August, authorities in Costa Rica captured a Tajik citizen suspected of being associated with ISIS, as reported by local sources. Shortly thereafter, a Pakistani citizen living in Canada was arrested for planning an attack against the Jewish community. On October 7, the FBI stopped Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, a 27-year-old man in Oklahoma, accusing him of planning a mass shooting on Election Day. According to NBC News, Tawhedi was linked to ISIS-K and had previously worked for the CIA in Afghanistan, officials confirmed. He was one of many Afghans evacuated by the United States during the 2021 drawdown of military forces, an operation that went awry. Tawhedi had served in the Local Guard Force, a unit tasked with protecting the perimeters of U.S. buildings for account of the CIA, according to informed sources. Like many other Afghans who collaborated with the CIA, he had moved to the United States while waiting for his visa application to be approved. Some former intelligence officers who served in Afghanistan told the ABC that Tawhedi was an exception among a group of Afghans known for their staunch opposition to the Taliban. These individuals put their lives at risk fighting militants and demonstrated deep loyalty to their American allies. However, others admit that Afghans still awaiting approval of their visa applications may be vulnerable to manipulation, considering the difficulties they face in their integration process into the United States.
@reproduction reserved
