Israeli security forces arrested three Israeli-Arabs suspected of providing guns and explosives to PA Arab terrorists in Judea and Samaria, it was cleared for publication on Thursday.
The suspects, Yazen Saifi, Ibrahim Yaaqaba and Dia Tayya, are all residents of Qalansawe, located in what is known as the Arab Triangle, an area of Israel’s coastal plain with a concentration of Arab municipalities.
Police and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) seized a large amount of ammunition, a pipe bomb, an M16 rifle, a Carlo rifle, a gun and an explosive device in the home of one of the suspects.
Residents of Israel’s coastal Sharon region recently told The Press Service of Israel that residents of Qalansawe were constantly traveling back and forth to the nearby Palestinian Authority controlled city of Tulkarem.
“Arab Israelis like those from Qalansawe are constantly entering the PA. You don’t have to be a genius to understand what kind of intelligence they are receiving,” Nir Bazak, a resident of the nearby community of Sha’ar Efraim told TPS-IL.
Seven Arrested in Bedouin Towns on Weapons Charges
The Israel Police arrested seven suspects on charges of firing guns and the possession of illegal weapons. The arrested suspects are residents of two Bedouin towns in the Negev, Rahat – near Gaza – and Segev Shalom (Shaqib al-Salam in Arabic) near Be’er Sheva. Also, approximately 200,000 Shekels ($53,110) suspected to have originated from the commission of criminal offenses, a rifle and three guns were found and seized. An M-4 rifle and ammunition were also seized.
The arrests came as part of the “Good Neighbor” program.
The purpose of the program is to prevent the escalation of violence and to thwart in a “targeted manner” criminal activity that harms public peace, and to “strengthen the security of the normative citizen.”
