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Bedouins protesting evictions, Be'er Sheva, October 24, 2012. Photo by Ilan Assayag

Bedouin brothers confess to targeting central bus station, train station; Jewish IDF soldier arrested on suspicion of selling them ammunition for drugs.

By Gili Cohen for Haaretz

Two Israeli citizens have been charged with planning terror attacks on the central bus station and train station in Be'er Sheva.

The indictment, filed Friday at Be'er Sheva District Court, charges two brothers from an unrecognized Bedouin village in the Negev with gathering intelligence about the intended targets of the attacks and buying explosives to make rockets that would be launched at various sites in the country.

Both Mahmoud Abu Qwider, 24, and Sameh Abu Qwider, 21, have confessed to planning the attacks, which also included a plot to run people over with a rental car outside the Mirs Communciations building in the city. They were arrested at the end of December, but a gag order on the case was not lifted until recently.

"This is a serious affair, in the course of which we exposed Israeli citizens, residents of the Negev, who planned to carry out a terrorist attacks in the territory of the State of Israel, against citizens of the country and against the security forces," the Shin Bet said in a statement.

An Israel Defense Forces soldier and another man, both Jewish, were arrested on suspicion of supplying the brothers with materiel stolen from the army, in exchange for drugs.

Security forces seized explosive material for manufacturing rockets in Mahmoud's home, and instructions for preparing rockets and roadside bombs were found on his computer.

He also told Shin Bet investigators that he had prepared pipe bombs in his home after following instructions he found online, and that he tested them in open areas. The Shin Bet said Mahmoud was planning to detonate some of the bombs when police forces came to evacuate Bedouin homes slated for demolition.

Mahmoud told investigators he bought ammunition from an IDF soldier in exchange for drugs and that the soldier had planned to steal a rifle for him from his base but that the plan was not carried out, the Shin Bet said.

Sameh told investigators he helped his brother make the pipe bombs and helped him conceal the stolen ammunition.

Mahmoud wrote on the Islamic Jihad website that he was willing to carry out a terror attack against Israel, the Shin Bet said. Security sources said he was influenced by the principles of jihad ideology and regularly watched online videos documenting terror attacks around the world.