The Israeli army said it seized a “large” amount of advanced weapons from Iran (Shin Bet)
The Israeli army revealed that the Shin Bet Security Service recently thwarted Iranian attempts to smuggle large shipments of advanced weapons, including packages containing explosive shrapnel and anti-tank mines, to activists in the West Bank for use in carrying out attacks against Israeli targets.
According to the Shin Bet, behind the plan were “Iranian Unit 4000,” the Special Operations Department of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Intelligence Organization, headed by Javad Ghaffari, and the Special Operations Unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force in Syria, known as “Unit 18840,” which is affiliated with the president.” Iranian Unit 840 Asghar Bakri.
The Shin Bet and the Israeli army revealed the plan during the interrogation of detained Palestinians, who were suspected of planning attacks.
The Times of Israel quoted the Shin Bet as saying that the investigation also revealed that a senior official in the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), Munir Maqdah, a resident of the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, was involved in the plan.
During the investigation of the arrested Palestinian suspects, the Shin Bet said that it was found that Meqdah worked to recruit Palestinians from the West Bank to carry out attacks and smuggle Iranian weapons, as well as financing them.
According to the Shin Bet, Maqdah has been known to Israel for years as “working for Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and he continues to attempt to carry out attacks these days.”
The Shin Bet says that the Israeli army seized a “large” amount of advanced weapons from Iran that were smuggled into the West Bank, as part of the investigation into the Iranian plot.
The Shin Bet says that it and the Israeli army are working to locate additional Iranian weapons smuggled into the West Bank, in addition to arresting cells recruited by Iranian agents.
Source: Israeli press + Reuters