Police seize large arms cache, dozens of firearm parts in West Bank raid

Police announced Friday morning that officers seized a large cache of firearms and dozens of weapon parts in an overnight raid in the West Bank.

Ten pistols, four rifles, over 130 magazines, weapon sights and other unassembled weapons were uncovered inside a Palestinian home near Hebron, police said.

No suspects were immediately arrested in connection to the cache, but police said an investigation was underway to locate those involved.

“I commend the activity of the forces,” district commander Chief Inspector Yossi Golan said. “The operation has led to the confiscation of many weapons which had big potential to cause danger to the public and to the safety of our forces.”

Since the beginning of the year, some 200 firearms, as well as a number of weapon lathes and other arms assembly equipment, have been seized in the West Bank, police said.

In recent years, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Police have been cracking down on makeshift Palestinian firearm workshops, as well as conventional weapons that have been smuggled or stolen from the Israeli military.

Improvised weapons, often referred to as the Carlo gun, are relatively cheap to produce and therefore plentiful in the West Bank. But mass-produced, superior guns, like M-4 or M-16 assault rifles, are far more difficult to obtain and are thus far more expensive, often costing tens of thousands of shekels.