Israel Police in the northern part of the country announced on Wednesday that they had successfully thwarted an attempted terror attack involving a terror squad planning to throw Molotov cocktails at passing cars along Route 85, as well as starting forest fires in the area.

The incident happened at the beginning of the month when officers noticed two suspicious minors dressed in black clothing filling up something from a gas tank.

During surveillance of the minors, the officers identified that the two had been preparing a number of Molotov cocktails filled with flammable material.

Suspecting that the two youths were planning to throw the Molotov cocktails at traffic traveling along Route 85, the police detained the two youths and transferred them for interrogation by police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).

The suspects admitted that they intended to throw the Molotov cocktails at passing cars near the Gilon junction, claiming that the vehicles belonged to Jews. They also intended to set fires in the Gilon forest.

The two youths had originally gone to a nearby gas station, where they filled a gas can. They then rode on electric bicycles to a nearby parking lot near the Gilon junction, where they began to fill up bottles. The youth filmed themselves filling up the bottles with their cell phones.

Terrorists carrying out such attacks often film themselves in order to post the videos to social media or to send to their handlers.

Following the joint investigation by the Shin Bet and the Northern District Central Unit, the Haifa District Attorney's Office will file an indictment against the two defendants, the police announced.

Superintendent Amit Singer said, "Since the beginning of the Iron Sword War, the Northern District has been acting with determination and strength to thwart security incidents against the civilian population."

He said the two youths were arrested "in swift and determined action" while "in possession of a large number of Molotov cocktails."

"The Israel Police and Shin Bet are constantly working to locate such incidents, prevent attacks, locate the terrorists, arrest them and put them behind bars," Singer said.

Republished with permission from All Israel News