The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced on Thursday the arrest and indictment of two Arab Israelis and a Palestinian for involvement in a large-scale weapons trafficking scheme.
Brothers Adam and Muhammad Abu Taha of Tel Sheva in the Negev, and Majdi Amarna, a resident of Yabad, located near Jenin in Samaria, were detained in December.
According to the Israel Security Agency, the brothers sold some 150,000 bullets and hundreds of M-16 rifle magazines to Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists operating in Yabad.
The brothers also supplied weapons components and other military equipment to terrorists across the Jenin area and to criminal elements throughout the Negev, according to the indictment.
The brothers have been indicted on multiple charges relating to weapons trafficking and terrorism; Amarna is expected to be indicted during the coming days.
The Shin Bet said that additional Arab Israeli residents of the Negev have been arrested in connection with the scheme.
Meanwhile, two would-be terrorists were injured in Jenin on Monday night when a car-bomb being prepared for an attack in Israel detonated prematurely.
A preliminary Israel Defense Forces probe found that the bomb, which was designed to be remotely detonated via a cellular phone, was unintentionally activated during its preparation.
Late last month, Israeli security forces conducted a large-scale daytime counter-terrorism operation in Jenin, acting on intelligence regarding an imminent major terror attack by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
During his visit last week to Israel and Ramallah, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas to put into action an American security plan aimed at reasserting P.A. control over the cities of Jenin and Nablus in Samaria.
“Blinken stressed that one of the most important steps the P.A. needs to take in order to de-escalate the security situation is to accept and implement a security plan that was drafted by U.S. security coordinator Lt. Gen. Michael Fenzel,” the Axios news site reported, citing American and Israeli officials.
Jenin and Nablus have become “centers of unrest,” as control has slipped from the P.A.’s grasp and terrorist groups associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas have stepped in.
