IDF uncovers rocket lab in West Bank

Israel Defense Forces troops uncovered a weapons lab in the West Bank containing large amounts of explosives and parts to build Qassam rockets.

Meanwhile security forces in Jerusalem were on high alert after intelligence information suggested terrorists may attempt to carry out an attack in the capital.

The lab, which belongs to Hamas, was discovered by elite troops in the village of al-Yamon, next to Jenin. The entrance to the lab was found inside a welding shop, a few meters underground.

The army safely demolished the lab with a controlled explosion. Over the past year similar labs were discovered in Nablus and Ramallah that were in the advanced stages of producing Qassam rockets.

One day earlier it was released for publication that in late December, the Shin Bet and IDF apprehended an Islamic Jihad terrorist who was allegedly planning a series of deadly attacks in Israel, including a Qassam rocket attack on the town of Afula.

According to the Shin Bet, 19-year old Jibril Zbeide confessed to interrogators to being a member of the cell that was planning an attack on Afula in a bid to create a “balance of terror" similar to that which prevails in the Gaza Strip.

Zbeide is the brother of Zakariya Zbeide, the leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Jenin.

When soldiers opened the weapons lab, they found a hidden location for weapons inside a tunnel leading to the lab. There they found three pipe bombs, containers of TATP explosives and eight 18-liter containers of hydrogen peroxide.

Military sources said Wednesday that although the terror infrastructure in the Jenin area has been hit hard over the last two years, there is an ongoing effort to carry out attacks. Despite the relative quiet and attempts by the Palestinian Authority to reach an understanding with terror organizations, these groups are still interested in carrying out attacks inside Israel and harm the current political process, they said.