Qassam rocket (Archive photo)
צילום: אמיר כהן
Qassam rocket found in West Bank
IDF troops detain Islamic Jihad member, uncover arms cache; rocket did not contain explosives
A hollow Qassam rocket that did not contain explosives was recovered by IDF troops Wednesday in the West Bank town of Kabatiya, south of Jenin.
Forces operating in the area also found fertilizers used to prepare explosive materials and a Molotov cocktail. The troops made the discovery after detaining a wanted Islamic Jihad member.
IDF forces have been operating in Kabatiya for four days now. The Jihad suspect's arrest allowed the army to obtain information regarding an arms cache in a Kabatiya cave. Troops acting on the information arrived at the site and recovered the weapons.
Notably, Qassam rocket components have been discovered in Ramallah and in Nablus in the past, while mortar shells were discovered in Bethlehem.
Suspects planned to stab troops
An IDF official said "we're talking about another attempt by terror organizations to escalate the situation in Judea and Samaria, and we'll thwart this attempt, too."
Meanwhile, troops operating overnight detained four wanted Palestinian suspects across the West Bank. Elsewhere, two Palestinian residents of Bethlehem were detained at a checkpoint south of Jerusalem in possession of knives. The suspects were arrested after being screened by Border Guard officers.
In their interrogation, the two confessed to planning to stab soldiers in order to avenge the death of one of the Palestinians' brother. The two were taken in to the Jerusalem District police for further questioning.
Ali Waked contributed to the report
