Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, Arab Israeli citizens’ involvement in terrorist activities in the West Bank, particularly in the region’s north, has surged. Over the past two years, the Shin Bet security agency has uncovered 16 cases involving Arab Israelis linked to terror operatives in the West Bank or the transfer of weapons from Israel to these groups.
On Sunday, the Shin Bet and Israel Police’s Northern District exposed another serious case, implicating five Arab Israelis in trading military-grade weapons that reached criminal elements and terror organizations in the West Bank.
One suspect, a resident of the northern Israel town of Jatt, was involved in several shooting attacks targeting IDF soldiers and security forces operating in the West Bank. Prosecutors are expected to file charges against the cell on Monday, while two Palestinians involved in the smuggling will face a military court.
During the investigations, authorities seized a large weapons cache in the northern Israeli Druze village of Yarka, some intended for terrorist groups in the West Bank. A raid on the main storage facility uncovered six Glock pistols, three M-16 rifles, an AK-47 rifle, over 100 components for making explosives, dozens of explosive detonators, thousands of rounds of ammunition and spare weapon parts.
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A security official explained the growing connections driving this trend. “We’re seeing an increasing link between Arab Israelis, especially those with family ties through reunification and the West Bank territories, aiding the terrorist activities of ‘terror battalions’—local groups in West Bank refugee camps—against IDF forces, whether through reconnaissance, weapons transfers or even direct participation in terror,” the official said.
He also stressed that security officials view any transfer of weapons to the West Bank as aiding terrorism and acts decisively to thwart such activities. Typically, the Arab Israelis involved have criminal backgrounds, family connections to the West Bank and live in Israel near the West Bank border.
The emerging analysis suggests these individuals are primarily linked to terror activities in northern Samaria, which have intensified in recent years. However, since 2024, terror battalions in the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams have been dismantled.
Now operating as fugitives, these groups attempt to establish makeshift terror networks, often relying on Arab Israelis to smuggle weapons and, in some cases, actively participate in attacks.