A Canadian citizen taken into custody by Israel told interrogators he planned to carry out attacks on U.S. soil for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
Jamal Akal, 23, originally from the Gaza strip, admitted he met with Ahmed Wahabe, a senior Hamas terrorist, while ostensibly on a visit to family in the town of Nutzeirat, reported the Israeli news service Arutz Sheva.
Akal said he agreed to Wahabe’s request to assist Hamas in Canada.
The Hamas leader instructed the Canadian to monitor the media for news of any senior Israeli official who might be arriving in the U.S. and to gather information about his itinerary.
Akal was taken into custody five weeks ago, but yesterday authorities lifted a gag on details of his interrogation.
On his visit to Gaza, Akal was finalizing plans to assassinate a senior Israeli official visiting the United States and to carry out other attacks, including shooting or bombing homes and cars of U.S. and Canadian Jews, Arutz Sheva reported.
“New York is an easy place to find Jews,” Wahabe said, according to Akal.
The Hamas leader asked Akal to seek financial help from the mosques in which he worshiped in Canada.
The funds ostensibly would be raised for the families of suicide bombers, but in actuality would supply him with a weapon and fund his monitoring expenses.
Just three days before he was to return to Canada, Akal received training from Wahabe on how to handle an M-16 and make bombs, Arutz Sheva said.
