PA seizes West Bank rocket

Palestinian security forces handed weapon over to the IDF two weeks ago.

By BYYAAKOV LAPPIN
kassam before launch great 248 ap (photo credit: AP)
kassam before launch great 248 ap
(photo credit: AP)
Evidence of rocket production efforts by Hamas terror cells in the West Bank emerged last month when Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces recovered a homemade rocket from a Palestinian village situated just three kilometers from Modi’in during a security raid, The Jerusalem Post learned Monday.
The rocket was a primitive projectile not yet ready for launch, but it nevertheless served as a reminder of ongoing Hamas rocket armament efforts in the West Bank.
Shortly after it was seized two weeks ago, PA security forces handed the rocket over to the IDF.
The forces raided the village of Beit Likya, near Ramallah, arresting five Hamas members and two additional suspects. The rocket was subsequently found during a second raid by PA forces in the Palestinian village of Beit Zera, situated just three kilometers from the town of Modi’in.
According to reports, the Hamas cell was headed by a man named Musa Nuaman Asi, a former Palestinian prisoner who served time in an Israeli jail. Asi became a wanted man by the Palestinian Authority after being released from prison.
A Palestinian source told Ma’ariv that the rocket “was in an advanced stage of production, but was not completely ready for use. The warhead was filled with explosives, and it had the words ‘There is no God but Allah’ written down the side.”
The transfer of the rocket to Israel is seen as being part of fruitful cooperation between Israeli and PA security forces.
In the recent past, other weapons such as shoulder-held missile launchers and mortars, seized during PA raids on Hamas cells, have been handed over to Israel.
The relationship has also resulted in the swift extraction of Israeli citizens who have illegally entered Palestinian cities, and their transferral into IDF custody.