BICOM

Israeli security forces yesterday released details of three Palestinians arrested in April on suspicion of terrorist offences, including ten shooting attacks in the West Bank.

The Shin Bet arrested the suspects in April in Faham, a village southwest of Jenin. A search of their homes led to the discovery of two handguns and an M-16 assault rifle hidden under a child’s bed.

A senior IDF intelligence officer involved in the operation said: “This cynical exploitation of hiding things in a children’s room is known to us. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last time that weapons are hidden in a child’s room or other places where they think we won’t look.”

Two of the suspects have been identified as Louie Ahmad Shafik Saabana, 34, linked to Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and his cousin Mahmoud Shafik Saabana, 26. The third suspect’s name was withheld because of ongoing investigations.

The Shin Bet have said that the attacks took place in early April and were targeted at settlements in the northern West Bank, Israeli vehicles and the IDF’s Salem checkpoint. The attacks did not result in any injuries, but did cause damage to property.

The operation to locate and arrest the suspects was carried out by the Shin Bet, IDF and the Israel Police’s West Bank Division. The Shin Bet said the suspects will be formally charged within days.

A Palestinian man armed with a knife attempted to attack Israeli Border police in the West Bank city of Hebron yesterday, before he was shot by Israeli soldiers. He was subsequently taken to hospital for medical treatment.

In recent months the frequency of attacks has decreased and there have been less attacks in 2017 than in 2016. In total 47 people have been killed in stabbings, shootings and car rammings in a wave of Palestinian terror attacks since October 2015.