Israel has arrested six Palestinian Bedouins from the Negev, including four teachers, for allegedly supporting the Islamic State group, the domestic security service said Monday.

The six men, all members of the same family, were relatives of two people who already traveled to Syria to fight alongside IS radicals, Israeli media said.

Around 30 Palestinians with Israeli citizenship have made their way to Syria to fight for radical groups against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the country’s more than four-year civil war, according to the Israeli authorities.

The men met “in secret to study the doctrine of Islamic State”, a statement from the Shin Bet intelligence agency claimed, adding they had intended to “spread the ideology of this group among their family and friends,” and that some had wanted to travel to Syria.

It did not give further details, including the date of their arrest.

Several Palestinians with Israeli citizenship have been arrested after returning from Syria, and convicted for attempts to join Syrian rebels.

IS purportedly executed a Palestinian in March who had gone to join the group, accusing him of being an Israeli spy.

There are around 1.4 million Palestinians in Israel, just over 20 percent of the country’s population.

They are the descendants of 160,000 Palestinians who were able to remain on their land when Israel was established in 1948.

Many Palestinian Bedouins living in the Negev are denied basic services, including water, by the Israeli authorities, who refuse to recognize around 40 villages.

They argue that the 53,000 Palestinians living in them cannot prove land ownership. MAANNEWS