The State Attorney’s Office filed an indictment on Thursday against a 22-year-old pharmacy student from east Jerusalem for allegedly planning a series of terrorist attacks using poisons and explosives against Jewish civilians and security forces.
The plans, according to prosecutors, were intended to cause mass casualties and followed a process of ideological radicalization that was fueled in part by the October 7 massacre and the ensuing Israel-Hamas War.
The indictment, filed with the Jerusalem District Court against Mohammed Shalbi, charges him with preparing to carry out a terrorist act constituting murder and receiving training for terrorist purposes.
Prosecutors allege that Shalbi regularly consumed material associated with Hamas and ISIS and decided to use his knowledge and access to chemicals to carry out terrorist attacks.
Shalbi was a third-year pharmacy student and also worked as a pharmacy assistant.
Suspect began formulating plan to plant explosive device near where enforcement personnel frequently stood
He is from the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina. According to the indictment, at the start of 2025, he began formulating a plan to plant an explosive device where enforcement personnel regularly stood, angered by parking tickets issued to worshipers who parked near a mosque in the neighborhood. The plan was never carried out because the enforcement personnel stopped coming to the area.
Later, prosecutors allege, he began planning what they described as a large-scale attack in which he wanted to kill “a lot of Jews.”
Shalbi joined Telegram groups associated with terrorist organizations, including a group affiliated with ISIS, and downloaded dozens of files. Some contained instructions for making explosive devices, explosives, and lethal poisons. The indictment also alleges that he copied into a notebook formulas for poisons capable of causing death through contact, inhalation, or ingestion.
On two occasions, he traveled to Ramallah and bought chemicals and equipment, splitting the purchases to avoid suspicion, and stored them in his bedroom. Later, he conducted a chemical experiment in the bathtub of his home, igniting a mixture he had prepared to test the materials.
Prosecutors said he erased files and his search history from his phone to conceal his actions. The prosecution asked the court to order that he remain in custody until the end of the proceedings against him.