IDF captures rocket-making terror cell in Ramallah

Inside the building, security forces discovered a rocket-production lathe, dozens of rockets, two of them ready for launch, as well as explosives and other materials for manufacturing weapons.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israeli forces uncovered a terror cell in the Ramallah area that was producing rockets for use against Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, the IDF announced Friday.

Overnight, IDF, Shin Bet, and Yamam counterterrorism units carried out a raid on a building where three suspects were hiding.

Shots were fired before the men surrendered. The suspects were arrested and transferred to Shin Bet for interrogation.

Inside the building, security forces discovered a rocket-production lathe, dozens of rockets, two of them ready for launch, as well as explosives and other materials for manufacturing weapons. The rockets and explosives were destroyed on site.

The raid came after a rocket was discovered last week in the village of Ni’ama, near Route 443 between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Security officials said the projectile had a range of about 10 kilometers, making it the most advanced improvised rocket found in Judea and Samaria to date.

The IDF said the rocket contained no warhead or standard explosives, but warned that efforts were underway to dismantle the infrastructure behind it.

Israel National News reported that the same cell arrested in Ramallah had produced the rockets recently seized. Officials expressed concern that the incident marked a new level of operational development and could signal a wider escalation in weaponry used by terrorist groups in the area.

The Yesha Council issued a statement calling on the government to extend sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. “When the government hesitates, terror resurfaces and intensifies,” the statement said. “Those who don’t apply sovereignty give hope to terror and invite rockets and the next massacre in the center of the country. Netanyahu. It’s either sovereignty or Palestine.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the discovery confirmed his warnings. “The Palestinian Authority is a terrorist organization that pays salaries to those who murder Jews and incites terrorism,” he said. “If we don’t dismantle it on time, we’ll wake up too late, like in Gaza.”