French
German
Hebrew
Noruegan
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Polish
Portuguese
Israeli police said Arabs in the Triangle district near Tel Aviv were acquiring and smuggling arms to Palestinian squads in the West Bank. They said many of the weapons were stolen from Israel Army warehouses in cooperation with soldiers.
“There are several networks of smugglers that are supplying criminals and militias in the West Bank,” an official said.
On Oct. 6, police arrested 16 suspected Arab arms dealers in the Israeli city of Kfar Kassam, located along the border of the West Bank. Officials said police also seized weapons from homes ordered by Palestinians.
Officials said the Kfar Kassem arms dealers were selling to militias in such West Bank cities as Kalkilya and Nablus. Both of these cities were said to contain a heavy presence of the opposition Hamas movement.
“The motive of such gun-running is profit, but we think some of these weapons were being ordered for eventual terror attacks,” the official said.
Officials said police and the military were ordered to intensify efforts to stop arms smuggling from Israel to the West Bank. They said the weapons could be heading to supply Hamas’ new military infrastructure.
“We have been seeking help from the Palestinian Authority to locate the weapons smuggled from Israel,” the official said. “So far, the cooperation has been less than expected.”
