Jerusalem Police arrest 2 Palestinian suspects during illegal weapons sweep

Arsenal of pipe bombs, stun grenades, machine gun and ammunition seized from home and falafel stand outside Old City.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
Updated: DECEMBER 30, 2015 05:59
A Carl Gustav submachine gun seized by police from a Palestinian falafel stand outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate. (photo credit: JERUSALEM POLICE)
A Carl Gustav submachine gun seized by police from a Palestinian falafel stand outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate.
(photo credit: JERUSALEM POLICE)
Police arrested two Palestinian men on Monday after seizing an arsenal of illegal weapons, including a submachine gun, pipe bombs and stun grenades, hidden in a falafel stand and the courtyard of a home in east Jerusalem.
According to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, the arrests are part of an ongoing, intensive operation to prevent terrorists from procuring weapons to carry out attacks in the capital.
“Police units carried out routine operations in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood on Monday and searched a number of homes and areas for illegal weapons to be used for criminal or terrorist attacks,” said Rosenfeld.
“Officers were able to find six pipe bombs, a number of stun grenades and ammunition hidden in the courtyard of a house, whose owner was questioned and arrested.”
Later that day, Rosenfeld said police received information about illicit weapons being sold from a falafel stand located on the well-traveled Sultan Suleiman Street, outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate.
“Officers found two pipe bombs, a Carl Gustav submachine gun and ammunition hidden inside the stand, and the owner, a resident of Wadi Joz, was arrested and questioned,” he said.
Neither suspect, he said, appeared to be part of an organized terrorist cell.
“It appears that they were selling the weapons for profit,” Rosenfeld said of the men, who have since been arraigned at Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court.
“Police units are actively continuing operations across Jerusalem, including in Arab neighborhoods, to find existing threats and illegal weapons before attacks are carried out,” he said.