Jerusalem, May 25 (IANS): Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency has announced the arrest of an Arab citizen who had planned a bombing attack on a bus in the northern coastal city of Hadera.

The suspect was identified as Muhammad Nadir Mahajana, a 20-year-old from the Arab city of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel.

According to the Shin Bet on Wednesday, Mahajana was recruited several months ago by Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Gaza's ruling movement Hamas, Xinhua news agency reported.

He collected information about potential targets for an attack inside Israel, focusing mainly on security sites and crowded areas, and then forwarded the information to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

His plan targeted bus line 921, which runs from the northern city of Haifa to central Israel. However, Mahajana was apprehended after acquiring benzene in an attempt to intensify the explosive power.

Israel's Arab minority are Palestinians who stayed put during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War that broke out in the wake of the Israeli declaration of its independence. They make up about 20 per cent of the population in the country.