Police from the Arad station say they stopped an attempt to smuggle an automatic submachine gun into Israel from the Palestinian territories Sunday morning.
In a video taken from the scene, police show the weapon, which appears to be an improvised, hand-made “Carl Gustav” style submachine gun.
The gun was found during a police ambush set outside the desert town, to stop smugglers bringing in weapons from the West Bank. The officers were backed up by police from the “MAGEN” anti-smuggling unit, known mainly for patrolling the Egypt-Israel border.
Police said the suspects – two Palestinians from the West Bank in their 20s - ran a checkpoint set up by police outside Arad but were stopped not far away and taken into custody.
The West Bank is a common source for firearms that are smuggled into Israel. These include home-made rifles like the one seized Sunday, and more sophisticated firearms, frequently including ones smuggled in from Jordan.
In a separate raid on Sunday morning, police from the Hebron subdistrict said they seized three stun grenades and a box of 5.56mm bullets.
