JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Palestinian terror cell accused of being behind at least 10 shootings at military and civil targets in the West Bank was apprehended and the assault rifle allegedly used in the attacks was found hidden in a child’s bed.
Three men said to be aligned with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were arrested in the joint operation of the Shin Bet security service, the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Police in the village of Faham, near Jenin, according to an announcement of the arrests cleared for publication Thursday by the Shin Bet. The suspects remain in custody.
The attacks, which caused damage but no injuries, occurred in early April near the northern West Bank settlements of Shavei Shomron, Hermesh and Shaked, near Jenin and another Palestinian city, Nablus.
An M-16 was found in the headboard storage space of a child’s bed made up in Dora the Explorer sheets.
“This cynical exploitation of hiding things in a children’s room is known to us,” an unnamed senior IDF intelligence officer told The Times of Israel. “It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last time that weapons are hidden in a child’s room or other places where they think we won’t look.”
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