North District Police said on Saturday that it raided a compound in Yafa an-Naseriyye, an Arab town near Nazareth, and uncovered a stockpile of arms including four guns, hundreds of bullets, cartridges and a missile. Superintendent Daniel (Danny) Levy, the new commissioner, announced the beginning of an operation to curb crime in the north.
"The North District Police is conducting extensive activity in the fight against violent crime. The activity is carried out on all levels, from preventing weapon smuggling and trafficking through covert activity, to preventing criminal activity before it is carried out, to a quick response to any violent incident through constant vigilance for public safety," the police said in a statement.
"The Israel Police and the Border Police are fighting around the clock to thwart shooting incidents and violent crime. The forces catch criminals in the act and use technological means to locate weapons and arrest suspects," the statement also said.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 700 weapons have been seized in the Northern District, including 253 pistols, 148 rifles, 161 grenades, 141 explosive devices - both bombs and improvised explosive devices, dozens of cartridges and plenty of ammunition.
The police also operated in southern Israel, in a complex in the city of Rahat. The forces located and seized a cache of 15 grenades. The owner of the complex and his son, residents of Rahat, were arrested – as were two Palestinians who entered Israel illegally. The four will be brought to a hearing on Sunday to the Be'er Sheva Magistrate's Court with a request to hold them during the investigation.
On Thursday, four assailants got out of their car in Yafa an-Naseriyye and shot Hamza Zeraini, 30, to death. In the footage from the scene, the four can be seen quickly descending from the vehicle they were traveling in and firing dozens of bullets at Zeraini, who was in his vehicle at the time. Zeraini's father was the first to reach the car, where he saw his son mortally wounded. He was first taken to the hospital in Nazareth in critical condition, but succumbed to his injuries a short time later.
On Saturday, Abdel Manan Natur, 43, a certified nurse, was shot dead in a car at the entrance to a wedding in Qalansawe. According to the investigation, he came to his relative's wedding and was shot dead upon arrival. Since the beginning of the year, 175 Arabs have been murdered.