Iran tried to smuggle weapons into West Bank, claims Israel
Israeli forces claimed to have foiled an arms delivery from Iran into the West Bank on March 25, Reuters reported.
Reports found that Lebanese militants Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard were at the forefront of the smuggling operations and that the advanced weaponry shipment would have allegedly been used to carry out attacks in the occupied West Bank, where fellow Iran-backed group Hamas have virtually zero political leverage.
The seized delivery contained 2 BTB15 peripheral shrapnel charges, 5 Iranian anti-tank mines model YM-2 and 5 detonators, 4 M203 grenade launchers, 15 kg of C4 explosives, 10 kg of Semtex explosives, 13 shoulder-fired anti-tank missiles, 15 RPG launchers, 16 RPG-7 rockets and explosives, 25 hand grenades, 33 M4 rifles and 50 pistols.
Following the arms seizure, Israeli security agency Shin Bet and the IDF said in a joint statement, “In recent months, Iranian agents have been attempting to smuggle weapons, including advanced arms originating from Iran, into Judea and Samaria ( a Zionist term to refer to the West Bank) with the intention of carrying out terror acts against Israel.
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“The operation was exposed and thwarted by the ISA and IDF, while investigating detained Palestinian operatives that had attempted terrorist attacks against Israeli targets. Investigations revealed information about the current activities of Munir Makdah (a serial weapons smuggler), a resident of Ain al-Hilweh in Lebanon who is of Palestinian descent, known for years as an operative of both Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and continues to attempt to carry out attacks.
“As part of the ISA operation against Munir Makdah, a significant amount of advanced weapons that had been smuggled into Judea and Samaria were seized.”
Shin Bet also noted that the Israeli army was working tirelessly to prevent further advanced weaponry deliveries from reaching the illegally occupied Palestinian territory in addition to killing or capturing terror cells recruited by Iran.
Since the start of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, where 32,500 have been killed according to recent data, 450 have been killed in the West Bank as non-profit organisation Action Aid UK found that 2023 was the deadliest year for Palestinians since the Nakba in 1948.
Reuters/Fox News
