IDF troops shut radio station, find guns in predawn raids

Security forces carried out a series of pre-dawn raids in the West Bank on Thursday, shuttering a Palestinian radio station, confiscating 11 weapons and arresting 15 suspects, the army said.

In the al-Amari refugee camp, near Ramallah, IDF soldiers clashed with approximately 200 local residents, who burned tires and threw rocks at the troops, the army said.

According to Palestinian media, the riot began as army brought a bulldozer into the camp to demolish a garage. An army spokesperson said she was looking into the claim.

In response to the stone throwing, the soldiers used less-lethal weapons to disperse the crowd, the army said.

Palestinian media reported that several residents were injured.

The IDF and Shin Bet security service closed the al-Huriya radio station in Hebron overnight, saying it “consistently aired inciting programs that encouraged terrorist acts.”

The station was also shuttered in November 2015 over its support for a series of stabbing attacks directed against soldiers that took place in the city at the time.

Security forces also conducted a series of raids aimed at cracking down on the illegal gun trade in the West Bank, the army said.

The IDF found nine makeshift guns in the village of Bayt Ur al-Fauqa, east of Modiin.

The police, meanwhile, uncovered eight weapons in the village of al-Arush in the southern Hebron Hills. Most of them were makeshift models of dubious quality, but the police also found one hunting rifle and an air-powered gun that had been upgraded.

In addition, the police officers found military apparel, knives and scopes.

In Hebron, IDF soldiers found a handgun, and in the village of a-Ram, near Jerusalem, troops uncovered another homemade gun.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, the IDF arrested 15 Palestinian suspects. Eleven of them are believed have thrown rocks or taken part in violent protests against IDF troops. The other four are suspected of belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization, the army said.