IDF Rescues Israeli Who Entered Ramallah

Channel 20 reported Thursday that police and IDF soldiers engineered the rescue of an Israeli who had entered Ramallah by mistake. Ramallah, in Area A, is off limits to Israelis, and has been the scene of numerous terror attacks, including the October 2000 lynching of IDF reservists Vadim Norzhich and Yosef Avrahami, Hy”d, made famous worldwide by the iconic image of one of his murderers proudly showing off his bloody hands at a window.

The man found a place to hide and informed security officials of his whereabouts, remaining in hiding until they arrived. Police said that an IDF team managed to extricate the man without incident. Police said that it was important for drivers to pay attention to signs in Yehudah and Shomron warning them against entering Area A towns, as Israeli security officials have no jurisdiction there.

Police announced Thursday that they had discovered and seized a “sizable” cache of weapons held in the Arab town of Kfar Kassem, next to Petach Tikvah. The seizure occurred last week, and the cache included several rifles, automatic weapons, firebombs, handguns, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Police arrested several suspects in connection with the case, and are investigating where the weapons came from and how they were acquired.

In a statement, security officials said that such weapons were used in terror attacks as well as for criminal activity, 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.

Overnight Wednesday, security officials said they arrested 12 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.