2 more 'terror teens' nabbed
IDF soldiers recover 11 pipe bombs after troops detain two youngsters at West Bank checkpoint
TEL AVIV - Two Palestinian youngsters aged 16 and 15 carrying 11 pipe bombs and improvised weapons were detained at the Jalameh roadblock north of the West Bank town of Jenin Wednesday.
Initially, the army said the boys, Mohammed and Hamam Daragmeh, were 12 and 13 years old.
Sappers later blew up the explosive devices in a controlled detonation. The youngsters apparently planned to stage an attack at the checkpoint, the IDF said.
The roadblock's commander, who cannot be identified for security reasons, said the boys arrived around 10 a.m. and behaved suspiciously. The bag containing the pipe bombs was discovered after the youngsters' clothes were removed, he said.
"The boys underwent a thorough examination and were handed over for investigation," he said.
The teens may have intended to ask the soldiers for water or a cigarette, before detonating their charges, the officer said.
On Friday, security authorities imposed a closure on the West Bank for the duration of Pesach. Palestinian entry into Israel would be permitted only in humanitarian cases approved by the IDF, officials ruled.
15-year-old boy detained two weeks ago
The decision to impose the closure followed security establishment assessments regarding the possibility of terror attacks during the holiday. However, officials decided to keep Gaza's Erez crossing, used by about 4,500 Palestinian laborers and hundreds of Palestinian merchants daily, open during Pesach.
Two weeks ago, soldiers apprehended a 15-year-old Palestinian boy carrying five pipe bombs at the Hawara roadblock south of the West Bank town of Nablus.
The teenager was detained after arousing the soldiers' suspicion because he was wearing a jacket on a hot day.
