Nine Palestinians arrested for bomb attack against IDF

Indictments to be filed against eight suspects from northern West Bank and co-conspirator from East Jerusalem

Illustrative photo of IDF soldiers and security personnel at the scene where an Israeli soldier was wounded by an explosive device at the Panorama military post near Beit Jala, south of Jerusalem, August 19, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
Illustrative photo of IDF soldiers and security personnel at the scene where an Israeli soldier was wounded by an explosive device at the Panorama military post near Beit Jala, south of Jerusalem, August 19, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Nine Palestinians were arrested over several months on suspicion of participating in a cell that targeted Israeli security forces with explosive devices, as well as for plotting future attacks against Israeli forces, the Shin Bet security agency said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the Shin Bet, it arrested the nine Palestinians in a joint operation with the Israel Police and IDF.

Eight of the Palestinians are from the northern West Bank, while one is an East Jerusalem resident. All were arrested between August and October.

The Shin Bet said that the Palestinians from the northern West Bank were arrested for targeting IDF soldiers on numerous occasions with explosive devices, while Ahmed Azala, the Palestinian from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Bab al-Huta in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, was arrested for working with the cell to try and smuggle two kilograms (four pounds) of explosive material from the West Bank to Jerusalem to use in the preparation of pipe bombs.

Materials used in the manufacture of explosive devices seized by the Shin Bet, Israel Police, and IDF over the course of August-October 2016. (Photo provided by the Shin Bet)
Materials used in the manufacture of explosive devices seized by the Shin Bet, Israel Police, and IDF over the course of August-October 2016. (Photo provided by the Shin Bet)

Security forces confiscated laboratory equipment used for making explosive materials and devices, as well as various types of raw materials used in the explosive-making process.

Indictments are expected to be filed in the coming days against the suspects in the Jerusalem District Court.

Their attacks were part of a wave of Palestinian terrorism and violence that has seen 36 Israelis, two Americans and an Eritrean national killed in stabbing, car-ramming and shooting attacks since October 2015. According to AFP figures, some 238 Palestinians, a Jordanian and a Sudanese migrant have also been killed, most of them in the course of carrying out attacks, Israel says, and many of the others in clashes with troops in the West Bank and at the Gaza border, as well as in Israeli airstrikes in the Strip.

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