Twenty-Seven Arrested in Illegal Weapons Sweep

Hundreds of police officers raided dozens of homes of individuals suspected of selling illegal weapons, both to crime syndicates and terrorists. Twenty-seven suspects were arrested in the sweep, after an investigation that had been ongoing for four months, police said.

The arrests were due to undercover work by police officers, who uncovered what is likely to turn out to be one of the biggest illegal arms networks ever discovered in Israel, police said. In a statement, police said that they would continue to operate both openly and undercover in order to continue to root out the phenomenon of illegal weapons sales, which endanger the public in many ways.

Overnight Sunday security officials said they arrested eight wanted security suspects in other areas in Yehudah and Shomron. 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.