6 Palestinians, including police, suspected of shooting at IDF troops

Shin Bet says men behind 7 attacks on Israeli soldiers; 3 cell members serve in PA security forces

A 'Carlo' homemade rifle allegedly used in a shooting attack on April 29, 2017, against IDF troops in the West Bank. (Shin Bet)
A 'Carlo' homemade rifle allegedly used in a shooting attack on April 29, 2017, against IDF troops in the West Bank. (Shin Bet)

The Shin Bet domestic security agency on Sunday said it had arrested a number of Palestinian men — including three members of the
PA security forces– suspected of being behind a recent shooting attack on IDF troops in the West Bank.

In addition to an April 29 attack at the Jabara checkpoint near the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem, the Shin Bet said, the cell was accused of six other shooting attacks on Israeli soldiers.

The security agency said that the six-member cell included three members of the Palestinian Authority’s Preventive Security Services, one of whom previously served time in an Israeli prison on terror charges before being released in a 2011 prisoner exchange for abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

During the arrest, the date of which was not given in the Shin Bet statement, the security agency said it uncovered two homemade “Carlo” rifles and at least seven pipe bombs.

The Shin Bet said that the cell also sought to purchase higher-quality rifles to use in future attacks, but lacked the funds to do so.

In addition to the six-member cell, the Shin Bet arrested an additional Tulkarem resident on suspicion of supplying the firearm used in the April 29 shooting.

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