IDF busts West Bank terror cell manufacturing rockets to be launched at Israel

The Israeli military says it busted a Palestinian terror cell in the Ramallah area of the West Bank that had been building rockets intended to be launched at Israeli targets.

The raid comes after the military said troops last week found a crude rocket that a terror cell had attempted to launch from the Palestinian town of Kafr Ni’ma.

Overnight, IDF soldiers, Shin Bet officers and members of the police’s Yamam unit reached a building in the area to detain members of the cell, the military says.

The IDF says the forces opened fire on the building, and three suspects emerged who were then detained and handed over to the Shin Bet for questioning.

Inside the building, the military says troops found dozens of rocket parts, including two completed rockets that did not have a warhead. The soldiers also found dozens of explosive devices and explosive material, alongside other evidence tying them to the efforts to build and launch rockets.

The rockets and explosive material were destroyed, the IDF says.

At another location in the Ramallah area, the military says soldiers found a lathe used to build the rocket parts.

In recent years, there have been several attempts by Palestinian terror groups to launch crude rockets from the West Bank at Israeli settlements and at Israel, though with little to no success.