The Israel Police have arrested five 15-year-old Palestinians suspected of establishing a terrorist group called the “Sa’ir Brigades” and carrying out firebomb and rock-throwing attacks, authorities announced on Wednesday.
The suspects were arrested in Sa’ir, near Hebron in Judea, in a joint operation with the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet).
In the nearby town of Beit Ula, police arrested a man in his 60s after seizing two pistols, ammunition, fireworks and tens of thousands of shekels from his home.
Police also arrested a suspect at the Tarqumiya Crossing who allegedly tried to run over officers with a stolen vehicle the previous weekend. All seven suspects were taken for questioning, and police are seeking to extend their detention.
Separately, Israeli security forces arrested five suspects in raids on two Palestinian charities in Judea and Samaria accused of supporting Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the IDF and Shin Bet announced on Wednesday.
During a Tuesday raid on the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association in Ramallah, Samaria, forces seized computers, documents and checks allegedly linked to Hamas funds.
Israeli authorities say the organization supports imprisoned PFLP terrorists, and has also employed people involved in the 2019 terrorist attack near Dolev in which 17-year-old Rina Shnerb was murdered.
In recent weeks, forces also raided the Islamic Association for the Care of Orphans in Yatta, near Hebron, seizing materials allegedly linked to Hamas financing. Israeli security officials said the association served as a financial arm of Hamas, transferring funds to the terrorist organization and supporting the families of terrorists and prisoners.
Also on Wednesday, a suspicious vehicle hit a guard at a security post near Ariel in Samaria, the IDF told JNS.
The driver failed to heed warnings, prompting the guard to fire toward the vehicle, which fled the scene, according to the military. IDF soldiers and police officers set up roadblocks and conducted searches in the area. Several suspects have been apprehended, the IDF said.
In another incident, Border Police officers arrested a driver and four illegal Palestinian infiltrators he was suspected of transporting after a high-speed chase near Jerusalem, the Israel Police said on Thursday.
According to the force, the car broke through the A-Za’im checkpoint east of the Israeli capital, drove over a spike strip and kept going toward the Route 1 highway.
Border Police spotted the car “driving wildly while endangering road users” and stopped it near Metzuda Junction.
The driver then fled on foot toward the Issawiya neighborhood, ignoring calls to stop, police said. Officers carried out a suspect-arrest procedure, firing one bullet into the air, and detained him.
The four illegal residents in the vehicle were also detained. All five suspects were taken for questioning at the Jerusalem District’s Shalem Police Station.
