Israeli security forces on Friday arrested an armed Palestinian man in the northern West Bank city of Qalqilya, preventing what authorities said was a planned terrorist attack.
According to a joint statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Shin Bet security service and the Israel Police, the suspect was shot in the leg moments after exiting his vehicle and was subsequently taken into custody by officers from the Gideonim Unit of the police's Lahav 433 division. No Israeli forces were injured during the arrest.
(Video: Israel Police)
The suspect, a resident of Qalqilya affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, was reportedly cooperating with Hamas operatives in the area. He was en route to carry out an “operational mission,” the statement said.
The arrest was part of a coordinated operation involving Gideonim officers, IDF troops from the Ephraim Regional Brigade and guided by Shin Bet intelligence. During searches following the arrest, security forces discovered several M16 rifles allegedly intended for use by the terror cell.
The Shin Bet said that in recent days it had also questioned several additional individuals suspected of involvement in the cell’s activities.
In a separate operation on Thursday, Israeli forces arrested Islam Qara’an, the head of a terrorist cell operating out of the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. The arrest was part of Operation “Iron Wall,” an ongoing counterterrorism campaign in the West Bank.
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Israeli forces said they encountered violent disturbances upon reaching Qara’an’s hideout and responded with gunfire. No injuries were reported.
Undercover Border Police officers from the Judea and Samaria division, along with IDF troops from the Samaria Brigade, conducted the operation based on precise Shin Bet intelligence. Qara’an was arrested along with another suspected terrorist at the scene.