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Israeli forces discover shipment of bomb-making components headed to Gaza

Thwarting yet another attempt by terrorists to harm Israeli civilians, Israel caught a terrorist as he tried to smuggle 60,000 springs used in the production of grenades, mortars and rockets.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

Israel’s police announced on Wednesday it has thwarted an attempt to smuggle 60,000 springs used in the production of grenades, mortars and rockets, before they arrived at their destination in Gaza.

Acting on intelligence provided by the Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency), police arrested a suspect, a Bedouin from the town of Rahat, at the community of Ami Oz, on the border with Gaza, as he was loading the illicit cargo onto his truck.

The police believe that the springs were meant to be used by a terror organization for the production of weapons, and that the suspect intended to smuggle a total of a half a million of these weapons components.

The suspect, together with another two Bedouins who were arrested in connection with the plot, were held for further questioning.

Israel’s combined security agencies have been successful in thwarting more than 500 attempts to smuggle illicit materials from Israel into the Gaza Strip since the beginning of 2015. Over 280 trucks have been confiscated as a result of illegal activity over the course of 2014.

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In many of the incidents, the smuggled materials are meant for Hamas’ rocket production program or its military build-up.

Most recently in May, Israeli authorities were successful in foiling an attempt to smuggle chemicals into the Gaza Strip which would have been used to produce hundreds of long range rockets.

In February, Israeli authorities thwarted an attempt to smuggle several drones into Gaza, which are suspected to have been intended for Hamas’ use.

Since Israel decimated Hamas’ terror infrastructure during Operation Protective Edge, Hamas has been working relentlessly to rehabilitate its networks and replenish its weapons stockpiles.