Othman Abu al-Qiyan, who studied medicine in Jordan and worked as an intern at an Israeli hospital, had died in the fighting in August.

An Arab Israeli doctor has been killed fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group in Syria, Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security service said on Sunday.

The agency said Othman Abu al-Qiyan, who studied medicine in Jordan and worked as an intern at an Israeli hospital, had died in the fighting in August.

His brother Idris had been arrested by Israeli security forces in April and charged the following month with aiding Othman and another relative, Shafiq Abu al-Qiyan to travel to Syria via Turkey to join ISIS.

All three were from the Bedouin village of Hura in Israel’s southern Negev desert, said Shin Bet.

Security authorities knew of about 30 Arab Israeli citizens who had made their way to Syria to fight for jihadist groups although only “a few joined IS, mostly those of a Salafist-jihadist background”.

“This is a dangerous phenomenon, as those leaving for the (Syrian war) theatre undergo military training, are exposed to extremist global jihad ideologies, and there is a concern that will be used to carry out terrorist attacks against Israel at the end of the day,” said Shin Bet.

In March, a resident of the Arab Israeli town of Taibe was also arrested on his return from training in Syria.

“During interrogation, he said that he was asked to provide information on sensitive sites in Israel… and was asked to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel,” said the agency.

Arab Israelis number around 1.4 million, some 20 percent of Israel’s population. They are the descendants of 160,000 Palestinian Arabs who remained on their land when the Jewish state was established in 1948.

 
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