As part of its operations in recent months to thwart Iranian attempts to smuggle "game-changing" weapons into Judea and Samaria, the Israel Security Agency recently confiscated a large Iranian shipment of advanced weaponry, the domestic intelligence service announced on Monday.
Iranian forces have been working for months to smuggle advanced weapons, including Iranian-made anti-aircraft weapons, into Judea and Samaria to facilitate serious terror attacks against Israel.
This was exposed and thwarted by the Israel Security Agency (also referred to as Shin Bet) and the IDF, who detained and questioned Palestinians who were known terror activists. The investigations led them to Munir Makdeh, a Palestinian who lives in the refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in southern Lebanon.
Makdeh has been known to work with Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to advance terror attacks for years and was responsible for recruiting Palestinians in Judea and Samaria to help transfer Iranian weapons and terror funds to terror cells.
According to the Shin Bet, the Iranian smuggling efforts are being directed by Division 4000, the special operations division of the IRGC's intelligence division led by Javad Afari, and the special operations unit in the IRGC's Quds Force in Syria.
As a result of the investigation into Makdeh's activities, Israeli forces managed to confiscate a large Iranian shipment that had already reached Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank.
Among the confiscated weapons were two large BTB15 fragmentation bombs, five YM-2 anti-tank land mines with fuses, four M203 grenade launchers, 15 kilograms of C4 explosives, 10 kilograms of Semtex plastic explosives, 13 anti-tank missiles, 15 RPG launchers, 16 RPG-7 rockets and propellants, 15 hand grenades, 33 M4 assault rifles, and 50 handguns.
Senior IDF officials told Army Radio these weapons were a "game changer" for Judea and Samaria.
"The meaning is that if until today the IDF moved in the area with a certain protection, which was adapted to certain weapons the terrorists had in the area, anti-tank missiles and RPG rockets are 'outside the rules of the game,' forcing the IDF to have a completely different protection and conduct themselves completely differently in the field," wrote Doron Kadosh, Army Radio's military correspondent.
"In other words, this kind of military might turn Jenin and Nablus into Gaza," Kadosh added.
"The Shin Bet, in cooperation with the other security branches, takes the involvement in terror activities directed by Iran and its affiliates very seriously and will continue to take active steps to monitor and thwart any activity that endangers the security of the State of Israel and its citizens," the Shin Bet stated.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant repeatedly warned against Iranian efforts to inflame the West Bank areas in recent months.
Speaking ahead of Ramadan, Gallant said Israel is seeing a "growing preoccupation of Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas to turn the month of Ramadan into the second phase of October 7 and set fire to the area."
Talking to Israeli soldiers, Gallant said "Iran is working to up the severity of attacks by smuggling in many weapons," describing the arms as "high-quality."
Last year, the IDF revealed it had successfully prevented another smuggling attempt of Iranian-made explosives from Jordan into Israel.
Republished with permission from All Israel News.