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2 Negev Bedouins arrested for trafficking arms to PA-controlled areas

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Two Israeli-Arabs were arrested as part of a crackdown on arms trafficking between the Negev and Judea and Samaria, Israel Police announced on Sunday.

By: TPS

Two Israeli-Arab citizens of Ar’arat an-Naqab (formerly known as Aroer), a Bedouin town between Beersheba and Dimona were arrested in March for suspicion of involvement in arms trafficking between the Negev and Judea and Samaria, Israel Police revealed Sunday.

During the operation, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Israel Police, also arrested a Palestinian resident of Yatta, south of Hebron on suspicion of being a member of the same arms smuggling ring.

The two Israeli-Arab suspects told investigators that they stole weapons from an IDF base and sold it to the suspect from Yatta who is known to the Shin Bet for trafficking in arms in very large quantities in Judea and Samaria.

In the course of the investigation, Shin Bet and Israel Police also arrested an Israeli-Arab resident of Ar’ara, another Bedouin village in the Negev, on suspicion of trading arms with one of the suspects from Ar’arat an-Naqab.

During the investigation, two Carl Gustav sub-machine guns and cartridges were seized by police.

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The Police Spokesman’s Unit said in a statement that the defense establishment views the involvement of Israeli civilians in trafficking arms with Judea and Samaria residents with utmost gravity, given the clear threat that weapons will be made available to terrorists and used to carry out attacks.

Indictments were filed on April 9th in the Beer Sheva District Court against the two suspects from Ar’arat an-Naqab for various weapons offenses, and on April 22 another indictment was filed against the suspect from Yatta.

The arrests are the latest in a series of security-related incidents involving Bedouin citizens from the Negev. In December, two Bedouins from the village of Kuseife were indicted for the killing of IDF soldier Sgt. Ron Kokia in Arad on November 30, and in January two Bedouin women from the village of Lakiya, also in the Negev, were arrested for ties with the Islamic State group.