"IS-inspired" Palestinians charged with fatal attack in Tel Aviv

Israel indicted Monday three Palestinians for their alleged involvement in a fatal attack in Tel Aviv, charging them with planning to carry out an Islamic State-style attack.

Two of the defendants, Mouhamed Khalid Mahamrah and Khaled Mahamrah, 21-year-old cousins from the West Bank city of Yatta near Hebron, were charged with perpetrating the June 8 attack in Sarona Market, a popular recreation center in Tel Aviv.

A third Yatta resident, Yunis Aish Musa Zin, was indicted of planning to carry out the attack together with them but did not follow through because of "technical reasons," according to a statement by the Shin Bet security service.

The Shin Bet said that Zin assisted the assailants in getting the weapons for the attack.

A military spokesperson said in a separate statement that investigations revealed that "the terrorists were inspired by the IS."

According to the Shin Bet, Mouhamed Khalid Mahamrah is a supporter of the IS, although neither he nor his cousin have ever formally joined the group.

The Shin Bet also said they originally planned to carry out a shooting attack on passengers in a train station in Tel Aviv. On the day of the attack, they decided to change their target and "randomly" picked Sarona Market.

Four people died in the shooting attack and 15 others were wounded.

Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper quoted a security official as saying that the decision to launch the attack was made in the wake of the arson murder of the Dawabsha family in the Palestinian village of Duma.

The attack came amidst a nine-month-old wave of violence, which has killed at least 214 Palestinians and 34 Israelis.

According to Israeli authorities, most of the Palestinians were killed during stabbing, shooting, and car-ramming attacks. Endit