Alert combat soldiers found a an improvised rifle loaded with a cartridge inside a child’s book bag when they inspected a Palestinian Authority Arab’s vehicle in the Jordan Valley Tuesday night.
“The driver aroused suspicion after a preliminary search,” said Captain Sefi Mor, an IDF company commander with the Kfir Brigade. “He seemed anxious, so we decided to perform a comprehensive search of the vehicle” at a checkpoint not far from the driver’s home.
No children were in the car at the time, military spokesmen told The Jewish Press, and the driver was arrested.
The weapon used the same caliber bullets as the Uzi sub-machine gun, and it is not known if the suspect was planning to use if for a terrorist attack.
The Palestinian Authority has insisted that it will take care of security and protect Israel from attacks if it gains sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, which runs from the Dead Sea to several miles south of Beit She’an, south of Tiberias.
Perhaps the child simply forgot the book bag and was intending to take the weapon for a show-and-tell session in school, or for a physically fitness class.