Singapore arrests would-be terrorist planning to kill Jews for Hamas

A 20-year-old Singaporean man was detained on Wednesday under the Internal Security Act for his plan to stab local Jewish community members after their prayer service at Maghain Aboth Synagogue in the city-state, The Straits Time reported.

The man, Amirull Ali, was serving as a national serviceman in the Singapore Armed Forces at the time of his arrest and is believed to have been self-radicalized since at least the age of 14, when he became interested in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

He seemed to have operated under the assumption that any Jewish worshipers he would be able to kill would have been involved in Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip.

Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said that many Jewish people in Singapore are local citizens and would have served in that country's defense forces and not the IDF.

"It's perfectly okay to support the Palestinian cause," the minister said, "but it's not okay to go around killing people."

He added that no matter how many people would have been killed or hurt, the planned attack would have had serious implications for social relations in Singapore itself.

Ali seemed to have acted on his own, without links to Hamas or other Islamic groups, and had been angered by news reports of how Israeli security forces allegedly mistreat Palestinians.

The latest example was the death of 32-year-old Iyad Halak last year.

Ali was alleged to be under the impression that, should he die while striking a blow for Hamas, he would reach heaven.

He planned several attacks, going as far as to practice stabbing movements with a practice-knife, learning about the human body to carry out an effective attack, and visiting the synagogue to familiarize himself with it.

He was careful not to take pictures of the site when he visited it and instead studied photographs of it to make his plans.

His reasons for putting off the attack were that he was concerned he would be arrested, not killed, and so would not reach heaven and never be able to join Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The Internal Security Department (ISD) was notified about the case by the Ministry of Defense.

The ISD said it would act against anyone in Singapore who would resort to violent means regardless of how they rationalize such an attack.

It also informed the public that it is vital to remain vigilant "to signs that someone around us may have become radicalized."