The weapons parts in the port of Ashdod
(Video: Israel Police Spokesperson)
The Israel Police said on Thursday that it had thwarted an attempt to smuggle thousands of weapons parts to the West Bank through the Ashdod port.
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The police arrested three suspects on suspicion of arms tracking, one of them an Arab Israeli resident of Tayibe.
According to a joint statement from the police and the Israel Tax Authority, a cargo destined for Nablus, dispatched from Turkey to the port of Ashdod, contained an industrial weaving machine weighing several tons and measuring 10 meters in length. Cleverly concealed within the weaving machine were thousands of components for automatic firearms and submachine guns, alongside counterfeit coin molds for NIS 10 coins.
Subsequently, this week, with the assistance of the IDF, two Palestinian residents of Nablus were arrested by the police for suspected involvement in arms trafficking and importing components for terrorist activities.
The police investigation was ongoing to identify additional suspects in connection with the incident.