Weapons workshop, arms cache found in East Jerusalem, Hebron

Israeli forces uncovered a weapons workshop and an arms cache in Jerusalem and the West Bank during overnight raids, officials said Thursday morning.

In the Abu Dis neighborhood of East Jerusalem, police said they found a workshop with machines to produce pipe bombs and other “weaponry.” In one mill, raw materials to produce explosives and ammunition was found.

Both machines would destroyed by the military, police said. They did not detail if any arrests were made.

In the West Bank city of Hebron, an Israeli soldier found a Carl Gustav-style submachine gun with a bullet magazine, ammunition, a Molotov cocktail, pipe bombs, tear gas grenades and a stock of commando knives.

Eight people were arrested across the West Bank during the raids, including three in Hebron, which was a hotbed of anti-Israel attacks during a six month wave of violence that began in October.

One of the people arrested was suspected of involvement in terror activities and violent rioting against civilians and security forces, according to an IDF statement.

All of the suspects were taken for questioning by security forces.

Over the past year security forces have found 20 improvised submachine guns, 18 shotguns and a similar number of improvised pistols, according to a report in news site Ynet.

Security forces carry out nightly raids in the West Bank against Palestinian suspected of attacks against Israelis, including rock-throwing.

Since October, 29 Israelis and four others have been killed during attacks by Palestinians on civilians and security forces.

Nearly 200 Palestinians have also been killed, some two-thirds of them while attacking Israelis, and the rest during clashes with troops, according to the Israeli army.