The Israel Police and the Shin Bet have uncovered a rocket-manufacturing cell from the Jenin area of Samaria, the two agencies said in a joint statement on Tuesday. JNS reports the cell had already carried out three test launches. Six suspects, all in their 30s, were arrested after a months-long investigation.
Investigators said the suspects built a rocket body and explosive devices, according to JNS. They also held weapons, including an M16 rifle and a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher. Security forces seized written instructions for making rockets, explosives and explosive devices. The weapons were meant for use against Israel and its security forces, the statement said.
The Jerusalem Post reports what the suspects told their questioners. One admitted he had helped set up the network. He said the test launches showed successful results in the rockets' power and range. The cell did not stop after its first tests. Members studied the results of each launch, made improvements and tested again. Another suspect admitted he helped the cell obtain explosives and sold its members weapons.
The main suspect was in contact with someone outside Israel, The Jerusalem Post reports. That person sent information through a messaging app about the materials needed to make explosives. The case was built by the counterterrorism division of the Israel Police's Judea and Samaria District Central Unit, working with the Shin Bet.
A prosecutor's statement was filed against the six over the weekend, and an indictment is expected in the coming days, according to JNS. The joint statement said the agencies "will continue to act resolutely and with zero tolerance against terrorist activity." In a separate case, JNS reports, undercover Border Police officers working under Shin Bet direction arrested a wanted Fatah operative on Monday night near Kafr Dan, northwest of Jenin. A business owner suspected of hiding him was arrested too.
What it means: the suspects were learning as they went. By their own account to investigators, they studied each launch, improved the rockets and tested again, with advice on explosives coming from outside Israel. A rocket workshop in Samaria is exactly the kind of threat the Shin Bet works to stop early, and this time it did. The next step is the courtroom.
The joint statement went further than a pledge of zero tolerance. The Israel Police, the Shin Bet and the IDF said they would also "thwart security threats, and ensure that all those involved are brought to justice, in order to safeguard the security of Israel's residents," JNS reports. The Jerusalem Post reports that all six suspects are residents of the Jenin area, and that investigators believe the weapons one suspect sold to the cell were among those seized during the arrests.
In the Kafr Dan case, the Israel Police said the Fatah operative was wanted on suspicion of involvement in promoting terrorist activity and had been hiding from security forces for some time, according to JNS. The undercover Border Police officers who caught him worked under the command of the IDF's Menashe Brigade. The business owner arrested with him is suspected of concealing him at the premises for an extended period, police said.
