One terrorist is dead and several others were in custody Saturday night after Israeli forces were kept busy this weekend stopping terror attacks in Jerusalem and at the Qalandiya crossing north of the capital, as well as thwarting a major weapons deal in the northern Jordan Valley.
A terror cell in Jerusalem’s A-Tur neighborhood was arrested Saturday night in an undercover operation by Border Guard Police and Jerusalem District Police, according to the Hebrew-language 0404 military news site.
Undercover police spotted the terrorists as they were beating up and pepper spraying Orthodox Jewish passengers inside an Israeli vehicle that had traveled into A-Tur.
Border Police undercover operatives spotted the attack as it was in progress; they arrested two of the terrorists — who tried to attack the forces – after firing warning shots in the air.
Shortly afterwards, the forces stopped a second threat; during a search of the suspects, the forces seized pepper spray and a folding knife in their possession.
The three terrorists – two living in A-Tur and one a resident of Abu Ghosh – were all in their 20s. Israel Police forces seized their weapons and took the suspects for questioning by security personnel.
In a separate attempted terror attack on Saturday a female operative was shot and killed by Israeli security personnel when she attempted to stab Israeli forces at the Qalandiya crossing north of Jerusalem, according to Ynet.
The terrorist was identified as a 28-year-old Hamas activist who was a resident of Aqabat Jabe, a suburb of Jericho.
No Israeli casualties were reported.
Earlier in the day, a joint operation by IDF troops and Israel Police thwarted a large weapons deal in the northern Jordan Valley.
Two suspects were arrested after a search of their belongings turned up nine pistols, a Kalashnikov assault rifle and an M-16 assault rifle, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The suspects were transferred to security personnel for questioning.