Amirull Ali, a 20-year-old fomrer full-time national serviceman, was detained under the Internal Security Act for plotting a knife-attack against Jews at a Rochor synagogue on two occasions.
Ali, who has been reportedly discharged by the SAF, hatched detailed plans to kill Jewish men at the Maghain Aboth Synagogue on Waterloo Street in 2019 and again in December last year.
He also arranged to join a militant group in Gaza, the Hamas group, to join their fight against Israel in order to become a martyr.
K Shanmugam, the Law and Home Affairs Minister, said that this is the first time that a self-radicalised Singaporean who was primarily driven by the Palestine and Israel conflict was picked up under the ISA.
MINDEF sounded an alert earlier this year on Amirull’s possible radical bent.
ISD said that Amirull, who acted alone, could have eventually carried out his attack in Singapore or travelled abroad to undertake armed violence if he had remained undetected.
He was arrested on 5 February and issued a detention order on 5 March.
Shanmugam said that Amirull was detained because hw wanted to kill innocent people in Singapore to show his support for the Palestinians.
ISD said that Amirull’s hatred for Israel intensified over time, after he started watching videos of Israeli fighter jets boming Palestinian citizens in 2014.
He also read a book glorifying the exploits of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (AQB), a military wing of the Islamist movement Hamas, in Palestine in 2015.
He then discussed his intention to join the AQB through a foreign contact in 2018.
He then researched routes to Gaza, planning to take up arms against the AQB.
He had intended to travel there via Cairo, Egypt and enter the Palestinian territory through a land crossing.
Amirull also made an AK-47 replica from wood and plastic to “practise” using it, because he believed the AQB would issue him one if he joined their forces.
He had planned to join the AQB after he finished his NS and saved enough money through his work as a chef.
Amirull began making plans to attack the Jews in Singapore after watching a documentary on the Jewish community here in July 2019.
He was enraged that the Jews were thriving peacefully here while Palestinians were suffering overseas.
He planned to attack the Jews after their prayers on a Saturday, also known as Sabbath, which is the seventh day of rest in Judaism.
He planned to use a Smith and Wesson knife the he bought in 2016, and he made a replica knife to practice stabbing motions and grip techniques at home.
He downloaded images of the human vascular system to study where to stab his intended victims.
He also made 2 recon trips to the synagogue between August and October 2019, identifying areas where he could ambush his would-be victims.
He didn’t take any pictures to avoid detection, but he downloaded a picture of the synagogue for reference.
ISD said that Amirull planned to hide his face with a keffiyeh, a white Arabic scarf, after the attack, then post the attack online from his home.
However, Amirul shelved his plans in 2019, because he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to gain martrydom if he was arrested and sentenced to death.
Because in Amirull’s mind, martyrdom could only be attained through fighting in an actual battlefield in Gaza.
He then planned to attack Jews again in December 2020, on Christmasm, which is the first day of the Hanukkah festival in Judaism.
He planned to wear a black balaclava, a type of mask purportedly worn by the AQB fighters.
His desire to attack the jews again, came from him watching another online video of the killing in an unarmed and autistic Palestinian man by Israeli forces in May 2020.
Once, he backed out of his plans to attack the jews because he worried he couldn’t attain martyrdom.
ISD revealed that Amirull acted alone and his immediate family and friends were unaware of his intentions.
Images source: Internal Security Department Singapore