Authorities in Singapore have arrested a man suspected of plotting an attack on a local synagogue.
Amirull Ali, a 20-year-old soldier arrested in February during his military service, is suspected of plotting a knife attack at a service at the “Maghain Aboth” synagogue in the Waterloo Street area.
Police said Ali intended to kill three suspected IDF soldiers.
In addition, authorities said Ali also made plans to travel to Gaza to join the Hamas military wing.
According to the investigation, Ali became radicalized during the 2014 Gaza War, after watching a video of an IDF bombing. A year later, he began supporting the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam terrorists and in 2018 they joined the group.
“We were told that an unknown person encouraged him to become a priest if he dies fighting against the enemies of Islam,” said one of the investigators.
A spokesman for Singapore’s Department of Internal Security said that person who was in contact with Ali is not currently in an Asian city.
Ali even made a replica of an Ak-47 assault rifle for use with. He planned to fly to Gaza after his military service and save money for the trip. Investigators said he acted alone, with his family unaware of his plans.
Between August and the beginning of October 2019, he made at least two reconnaissance trips to the synagogue and identified a place to attack his victims as they fled the place of worship.
After deciding to use a knife for the attack, Ali downloaded an image of the human viral system to investigate which strike was most effective, working with a knife he had previously purchased.
Ali eventually thwarted his plans of assault because he was worried that he would not die as a priest if he was arrested and executed.
He reiterated his plan in December last year when he was caught with an online video about the killing of Eyad al-Halak, an unarmed and autistic Palestinian man, by IDF forces. He had planned to launch his attack at Christmas, but again decided not to go through with his plan.
Muslim leaders arrived Wednesday at the synagogue, along with Singapore Law Minister K. Shanmugam, who said Ali was not arrested because he was identified with the Palestinians, but because he wanted to kill innocent people.
“It’s okay to support the Palestinian cause, but it’s not okay to plan to kill people,” he said. “If this conspiracy had gone through, the consequences would have been has been good. It is not only a loss of life, but it is also causing disbelief and hostility among Singapore religions. ”