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Tensions high as hidden weapons found in Christmas shipment, Liberman assassination plot revealed

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Tensions remain high in Jerusalem as Hamas declared today as a ‘Day of Rage’ and called for protests and attacks. Jerusalem and all of Israel remain on alert with heightened police presence and increased security.

Police and customs officers seized a shipment of weapons yesterday. The shipment was hidden inside boxes labelled “Christmas Decorations” with a delivery address in a mainly Christian-Arab neighbourhood of Jerusalem.

Inside were 18,000 fireworks, including some that are bigger than the legal limit for over-the-counter sales, 5200 commando knives, 5500 Tasers, 4300 concealed Tasers disguised as torches and 1000 swords.

The shipping containers were presumably dispatched from China some weeks ago. According to Haaretz, the containers were collected by three suspects, believed to be Israeli Arabs from the north of the country, and were transported on trucks to northern Israel where the men were arrested.

Three men were charged yesterday with plotting to assassinate Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman in August. According to Yediot Ahronot, the three men are Hamas activists, although the Jerusalem Post claims that they were operating independently. The men had allegedly planned to blow up Mr Liberman’s car with a Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) on his journey home. They had measured and timed the journey and decided where to strike from, and were arrested while trying to buy the RPG.

Hamas and other groups fired several rockets from Gaza into the sea yesterday. The purpose for this rocket-fire is unclear, but there is speculation that it may be test-fire of new rockets or training rocket crews in preparation for a new rocket barrage on Israel.