IDF Raids PA Car ‘Chop Shops’

IDF soldiers overnight Wednesday raided several Palestinian Authority “chop shops,” where cars stolen from Israelis are brought for dismantling or refurbishing. The vehicle parts are then sold on an aftermarket, both in Israel and abroad, while the vehicles that are not dismantled are either used inside the PA or shipped to other Arab countries.

Soldiers raided chop shops in the Chevron area village of Dahariya, and discovered 25 stolen vehicles, as well as parts of dozens of other vehicles that had been dismantled. Soldiers confiscated the vehicles and the parts, as well as the equipment used by the chop shop. Several arrests were made.

IDF forces confiscated terror funds from terrorists in Chevron. Soldiers confiscated tens of thousands of shekels in the operation. The money was part of payments made by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to the families of terrorists for committing terror acts against Israelis, officials said.

Also seized Wednesday night were weapons that were to be used in terror attacks. Soldiers, working with police, discovered a cache of weapons in Chevron. Several suspects were arrested and the cache confiscated. In a statement, police said that such weapons were often used in terror attacks, and that security forces were determined to seize all weapons that were being held illegally by all people, in order to better protect all Israelis and residents of Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, who are also under threat by terrorists and criminals.

Security officials said they arrested 16 wanted security suspects in other areas in Yehudah and Shomron overnight Wednesday. The suspects were wanted for participating in rioting and throwing stones and firebombs that endangered Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers. Several of the suspects were also charged with belonging to Hamas. All were being questioned on their activities by security forces.