Police arrested the suspect on Wednesday, saying he had “actively participated” in an attempt by pro-Palestinian demonstrators to storm Melilla’s main synagogue on October 18, some 10 days after the start of the
Israel-Hamas war.

They said he had undergone a “rapid process of radicalisation” and was “putting together a list of targets, mainly places run by members of the Jewish community in Melilla”, some of which he had flagged on social media.

Investigators were tipped off in November by his social media activity where he posted content from the Islamic State group, and “unconditional support for the Hamas attacks” of October 7 on southern Israel that triggered
the ongoing war.

Since then, he had very quickly become radicalised, issuing “explicit calls to carry out violent jihad”, including “acts of martyrdom”, and had proposed an “armed uprising” against the Jewish community in general, and specifically in Melilla.

He was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday morning on suspicion of “glorifying terror, inciting terrorist attacks and training to that end”.

Police also seized material from his computer and mobile phone as well as other paperwork.

The war in Gaza began after an unprecedented October 7 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel, killing about 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel has responded with a relentless offensive that the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says has killed at least 30,800 people, mostly women and children.