ByMATHILDA HELLER

The criminal trial of three French Muslim teenagers who planned an attack on the Israeli embassy in Belgium began on Tuesday, according to French media.

Details of the intended attack included blowing up a truck with TATP explosives at the entrance to the Israeli embassy in Brussels and then storming the building with firearms, including assault rifles, Le Point reported.

The three teenagers were between 14 and 16 years old when they were arrested in August 2023. One is French-Algerian, born in France, and the other two were born in the Chechnya region of Russia and moved to France at a young age.

The trial is set to finish on Friday and is taking place behind closed doors in Paris juvenile court. The specific charge is 'criminal association with a view to preparing an act of terrorism.'

Authorities were alerted to the trio due to the suspicious behavior of one of the boys, who began singing "violent religious songs related to terrorism in front of his classmates," according to Ici Touraine and La Nouvelle Republique.


A view of a commemorative plaque to the victims of the terror attacks of November 13, 2015 in which 130 people were killed, in front of the concert hall Bataclan in Paris, France November 13, 2022
A view of a commemorative plaque to the victims of the terror attacks of November 13, 2015 in which 130 people were killed, in front of the concert hall Bataclan in Paris, France November 13, 2022 (credit: Teresa Suarez/Pool via REUTERS)

The police subsequently discovered numerous links to jihadist networks via encrypted messaging services such as Telegram in the boys' phones.
 
The investigation found that the three teenagers spent significant amounts of time on social networks watching gruesome scenes of beheadings and other violent content.
 
The group's ringleader was believed to have been radicalized by Islamic State affiliates in Dagestan, Russia, whom he met on TikTok in 2022.
 
However, the others also had connections to Islamists in the North Caucasus.

The boys also admitted to exchanging videos of throat slitting, beheading, and the Paris Bataclan attacks, as well as discussing killing Jews, Russians, and policemen.

According to Le Point, they also made and tested homemade explosives from hydrochloric acid and aluminum. The sister of one of the boys provided her brother with the recipe for the explosives, for which she was sentenced to 5 years in prison earlier this year.

A few days after the boys tested the explosives, one made a video wearing a red and white Palestinian keffiyeh on his face, saying, "Today, O West, we threaten you bismillah Allah azzawajal. We are going back to your house to kill you, as you killed our women and children in Sham. Allahu Akbar."

The boys face up to five years in prison.