Report: PA Police Foiled Major Terror Attack

A report in Yediot Acharonot Friday claims that the Palestinian Authority prevented what could have been a major terror attack against IDF soldiers. The claim was confirmed, the report said, by two independent sources, who said that PA police intervened in recent days to prevent the attack on an IDF convoy.

The attack was in the form of a large bomb that had been placed on service roads along Road 443, between the Arab villages of Beit Laqiya and Beit Anan. The service roads are used on a regular basis by IDF soldiers for patrols, and the adjacent Road 443 is a major traffic artery between the center of the country and Yerushalayim. The bomb, which was set by Islamic Jihad terrorists, was said to have had a large explosive capability, with the potential to cause many injuries, challilah.

PA police intervened to disarm the device, keeping Israeli security officials abreast of the events in real time. Israeli security officials who investigated the incident said that Beit Laqiya is home to a cell of Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah-affiliated terrorists. According to the report, this is the second time PA police have foiled a terror attack on the service roads in the area.

According to one of the sources, the bomb had been set to go off this week, as Muslims celebrated a festival – with the objective of causing Israel to back off a ceasefire deal being worked out with Hamas by third parties.