In a cooperative effort with the Israel Defense Forces, Border Police detectives uncovered Wednesday evening a factory for the manufacture of weapons in the Palestinian Authority village of Beit Arush in the southern Hevron hills. Five weapons were found in their search, including a shotgun, an airsoft rifle converted into improvised Kalachnikov, and three improvised Carlo type machine guns. There were also large quantities of ammunition, IDF uniforms, knives and binoculars.
The weapons were allegedly manufactured by a PA resident with entry permits for parts of Israel within the 1949 Armistice Line. The police noted that the weapons might have reached terrorist elements that would have been used to carry out attacks against Israeli citizens. A suspect, a resident of the village in his 40s, was detained for further investigation by the Border Police.