Israeli policemen. Photo: wiki commons.

JNS.org – Israel’s Shin Bet security agency and the Jerusalem District Police’s Central Unit have arrested a resident of the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem, believed to be a Hamas member, on suspicion of orchestrating a series of recent sabotage attempts on residential gas lines in the city’s Armon Hanatziv and Gilo neighborhoods.

In the most recent incident, last week, gas lines in residential buildings on three different streets were found cut and burning candles were left in one location.

According to the police, the suspect, 48-year-old father of six, had implicated himself in the acts and said he was motivated by the fact that Jewish worshippers were allowed to enter the Temple Mount and the security situation in Gaza. He told investigators he was inspired to cut gas lines in hopes of triggering an explosion following the accidental gas blast that took place in the capital’s Gilo neighborhood in January, killing three and leaving 11 others wounded.

Police said the suspect admitted to sabotaging the gas lines of eight buildings in Jerusalem. The same suspect has been implicated in another terror attack in Jerusalem, dating back to 2012, when an elderly haredi man was seriously wounded after being bludgeoned over the head on his way back from the Western Wall.