Israel arrests Palestinian teens over shooting attacks

3 minors believed to have used homemade guns in assaults on army post near West Bank settlement of Ofra

By Judah Ari Gross 7 December 2016, 4:45 pm

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Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.

Israeli security forces arrested three Palestinian teenagers suspected of carrying out four shooting attacks on an army outpost in the central West Bank last month, the Shin Bet domestic security service revealed Wednesday.

The families of the suspects were also brought in for allegedly helping the trio hide the makeshift weapons used in the attacks.

The three suspects are minors, so their identities were not revealed.

The four attacks took place at an army post outside the Ofra settlement, north of Ramallah.

According to the IDF, the group was based in Silwad, a Palestinian town located just north of Ofra.

An IDF soldier holds a gun believed to have been used in four shooting attacks on an army post outside the Ofra settlement in the West Bank. (Screen capture: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) — An IDF soldier holds a gun believed to have been used in four shooting attacks on an army post outside the Ofra settlement in the West Bank. (Screen capture: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

No soldiers were injured in the attacks, though the Shin Bet found the attacks to be an example of the risk posed to Israeli security from locally produced weapons.

“The work of this cell, which was exposed by the investigation, shows the high level of threat by terror cells, which operate based of local initiative, with access to weapons and the manufacturing of guns,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.

The homemade guns were found in a joint operation by IDF soldiers and Israel Police officers in the front yard of one home and in a storage room of another.

The security service handed over its findings to a military prosecutor, who is expected to file an indictment in the coming days.