Israeli forces have intercepted a large shipment of weapons, including mines, rockets, drones, and rifles, smuggled by Iran to terrorists in the West Bank. This operation was the result of a joint effort by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet.
Redaksiya reports that the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) have seized a large cache of weapons smuggled by Iran to terrorists in the West Bank. According to military information, the weapons shipment was sent by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was discovered after the arrest of a weapons dealer near Ramallah. KAN News reported on the incident, which occurred on October 8.
Among the seized weapons were 29 anti-personnel mines, four drones (including two explosive drones), 15 anti-tank missiles, a grenade launcher, three rocket launchers, 20 hand grenades, 53 pistols, seven assault rifles, nine machine guns, and 750 bullets. Army Radio correspondent Doron Kadosh reported this. A Shin Bet official told 103FM that the northern West Bank was "full of Iranian weapons" in January. In April, Lieutenant Colonel Aviv Amir, the outgoing commander of the IDF's Jordan Valley defense, stated that the IDF had successfully halted Iran's influence in smuggling weapons into the West Bank via the Jordanian border. Defense Minister Israel Katz told The Jerusalem Post in April that he had identified investing 5.2 billion shekels in a new, more secure border fence as a top priority to help prevent smuggling by terrorists in the area. On Wednesday, the IDF confirmed that soldiers from the Judea and Samaria Division conducted arrests of terrorists, destroyed explosive devices, and carried out searches in over 200 buildings in the West Bank on Wednesday. These operations also included the confiscation of weapon parts, Molotov cocktails, a pipe bomb, and other materials inciting terrorism.