Eight terror suspects arrested, weapons seized in raids across West Bank

Eight terror suspects were arrested overnight in raids across the West Bank, the IDF said in a statement Thursday.

There were no injuries to Israeli forces, and all of the suspects were taken for questioning.

In the village of al-Azariya and the al-Ayda refugee camp in the central West Bank three suspects were arrested. Security forces also seized a makeshift “Carlo” submachine gun, ammunition, and police uniforms, the statement said.

In Yata, in the southern West Bank, another suspect was arrested and two M-16 rifles and two pistols found.

The raids came after on Tuesday security forces killed a wanted member of a terror cell in Nablus. Two other Palestinians were killed in that raid and another 40 people injured according to the Palestinian Authority health ministry.

Palestinians had traded gunfire with the Israeli army in the old city of Nablus, where troops had attempted to capture Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander Ibrahim Nabulsi.

Israeli officials said no troops were hurt during the operation, but a Border Police dog, Zili, was killed by the fugitives’ gunfire.

The operations come days after Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group reached a ceasefire following three days of armed conflict in and around the Gaza Strip.

The conflict was sparked by the arrest by the IDF of the Islamic Jihad’s West Bank head Bassam Saadi in a raid on Jenin last week and the terror group’s subsequent threats to carry out terror attacks in retaliation.

Tensions have remained high in the West Bank, as Israeli security forces stepped up arrest raids and operations following a deadly wave of terror attacks against Israelis that left 19 people dead earlier this year.