NABLUS - IDF troops apprehended a Palestinian Friday who attempted to cross a roadblock near Nablus in the West Bank with an explosive belt in his bag.
The soldiers became suspicious after they noticed electric wires sticking out from the suspect's bag.
Battalion commander Yoav Zuckerman said the suspect is from the West Bank town of Qalqilya.
“When the Palestinian realized the soldiers had discovered the explosives, he shouted in Hebrew ‘it’s not mine, it’s not mine,’” he said.
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Zuckerman said upon the suspect's arrival at the roadblock, two IDF soldiers asked him to stop and lift up his shirt, in order to ensure he was not hiding any explosives under his clothes. They also asked him to open his bag.
The Palestinian removed his clothes from his bag, which did not satisfy the soldiers. They proceeded to instruct him to open his bag for them to take a closer look.
“At this stage,” Zuckerman said, "we stopped the traffic from both directions and called for the bomb squad to blow up the explosive belt in a controlled manner.”
Calm only surface-deep
Zuckerman said they found explosives, a belt, an activating switch and batteries in the suspect's bag.
“The roadblocks are proving themselves in separating the Paletinian population from the terrorists,” he said. “This has prevented a large-scale disaster in Israel."
He said the present calm is only surface-deep.
"On the surface it seems as if there is calm, but under it all the terror and attempts to smuggle explosive belts and devices through the roadblocks, to harm Israel’s citizens, continue.”
IDF officials estimate the suspect planned to bring the bag into Israel and carry out a mass terror attack.They said this incident demonstrates the need for roadblocks.
The suspect was taken into questioning by the security forces.
Attempt near Ramallah
In a separate incident, IDF troops apprehended two Palestinians who approached the Kalandia roadblock on the outskirts of Ramallah carrying three Molotov cocktail bottles.
During questioning the two said they had heard in the news that Jewish right-wingers had planned to pray at Temple Mount.
They said the Molotov cocktails were aimed to stop them.
Later, the Jerusalem Magistrates Court extended their remand by four days.
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