The Shin Bet general security service said Tuesday that it had arrested eight East Jerusalem residents who formed a terror cell that carried out several firebombings and other attacks in the capital and was planning shootings.

Most of the suspects came from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, and all are residents of Israel. The group liked to call itself the “Ghosts of Silwan,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.

Group leader Mahmad Farouach, 19, a resident of Silwan, reached out to contacts in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip seeking to work under their auspices and obtain funding for the cell’s intended attacks, according to the Shin Bet.

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The Shin Bet named the other suspects as Amir Faruach, 19, Saud Alian, 18, Mahmad Abu Tayiah 19, Amjad Shwachi, 19, Ali Abasi, 19, all from Silwan, and Ahmad Abu Halif, 18, from the Abu Tur neighborhood near Silwan.

Information gleaned from questioning enabled investigators to piece together much about the cell’s activities. The suspects allegedly planned to shoot at Israeli targets in Silwan, including vehicles belonging to Israeli residents and Jewish homes in the neighborhood. The cell had plans to obtain the weapons needed to carry out the attacks.

Palestinians have decried the influx of Jewish Israelis into Silwan, accusing them of seeking to push them out of their own neighborhood.

Cell members were involved in recent attacks in the area of Silwan, including the throwing of Molotov cocktails, firecrackers and stones at security forces and security vehicles. In an August 6 attack, some of the suspects poured flammable liquid onto a police patrol car and then threw Molotov cocktails at it. The car was consumed by flames and destroyed.

Another suspect, not named in the statement and also from Silwan, was a minor at the time of his arrest. During questioning investigators discovered that he was involved in planning a shooting attack and involved in an arson attack on a security patrol car as well as other firebombing attacks.

Indictments against the suspects are to be filed Wednesday in the Jerusalem district court, the Shin Bet said.

“The results of the investigation reflect a step up in the nature of terror activities in the field, among other things under the influence of the violent incidents around the Temple Mount, after the June attack there,” the Shin Bet said.

In the July 14 attack three Arab Israelis shot and killed two Israeli policemen outside the Temple Mount in Jerusalem with guns they had smuggled into the holy site.

Following the attack, Israel set up metal detectors at the entrances to the holy site, which Muslim leaders condemned as a violation of the status quo, sparking a series of violent protests in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The crisis was contained when Israeli authorities removed the newly installed measures amid heavy pressure from Jordan, the custodian of the Temple Mount, and the Palestinians.

The uptick in terror incidents have been marked by an increase in stone throwing, Molotov cocktails and shooting attacks, the Shin Bet statement noted.

Earlier this month Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman told cabinet ministers that in July and August his agency prevented approximately 70 terror attacks. He added that since the beginning of the year, his agency has thwarted some 200 terror attacks, including suicide bombings, shootings and kidnappings.

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.