The seven men were caught just before executing an attack, Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency said.

All seven admitted to belonging to ISIS and that they were part of a plot to attack Druze Israelis - a branch of Shia Islam - as well as police officers and the security service.

The defendants, who are thought to be the first ISIS members to be discovered operating in Israel, were arrested in Haifa and charged with joining and aiding the terrorist group as well as attempting to contact terrorists abroad.

It is believed that the men, all from the northern city of Sakhnin, were trying to set up a branch of the terrorist network in Israel. 

The Jerusalem Post named the men as Adnan Aladin, 40, a lawyer in Nazareth, Hasam Marisat, 30, Karim Abu-Tzalah, 22, Alaa Abu-Tzalah, 27, Halad Abu Tzahalh, 30, Sarif Khaled Abu-Tzalah, 29, and Muhammad Abu Tazalah, 27.

Israeli security services said that the men were planning to flee to Syria to fight for ISIS after carrying out their attack in Israel. 

The extremist group currently controls about a third of Iraq and Syria, where it has beheaded scores of captives.

Victims include western journalists and aid workers such as Britons David Haines and Alan Henning and Americans James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

Thousands of Muslims from Western countries are believed to have flocked to Syria to join ISIS, including an estimated 30 Israelis.

(dailymail.co.uk)