The Shin Bet and Israel Police have foiled a combined bombing and shooting attack planned for Jerusalem's Old City, The Yeshiva World reports, and the 19-year-old suspect has been indicted. The two agencies revealed the case on Wednesday evening, according to World Israel News. The suspect, a resident of the Beit Hanina neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem, planned to set off a bomb at Lions' Gate, then enter the Temple Mount compound and open fire on Jewish civilians and police officers.

The attack was designed in two stages, World Israel News reports. First came the bomb near Lions' Gate, which Matzav describes as one of the main entrances to the Old City. Then the suspect intended to go up to the Temple Mount with a firearm and shoot at civilians and security forces. His stated goal, as it emerged under interrogation, was to kill as many people as possible and then escape the scene.

Matzav reports investigators say he spent about two years preparing, aimed to inflict as many casualties as possible, and planned to escape afterward. World Israel News reports he used his Friday prayer visits to study where the security cameras were and how security forces were deployed. At the same time he searched the dark web for ways to obtain weapons for the shooting phase of the attack.

In recent months the suspect began training in martial arts so that he could harm people with his bare hands if the original plan could not be carried out, World Israel News reports. Under questioning he confessed to the plan and said he decided to act after watching footage of the Hamas massacre of October 7. Acquaintances of the suspect also gave investigators information that strengthened the case against him.

With the investigation complete, prosecutors filed a severe indictment against him in recent days, Matzav reports. What it means: a plan two years in the making, aimed at Jewish civilians and the police who guard the Old City, was stopped before it started.