Gas balloons (illustration)
Gas balloons (illustration)Flash 90

A potentially lethal terror attack was averted earely Monday morning after terrorists placed a gas canister inside burning tires near the Maccabim checkpoint on Highway 443.

IDF forces identified the burning tires at about 3:00 a.m. on the shoulder of the highway that connects Jerusalem with Modiin, about 500 meters from the Maccabim checkpoint.

A gas balloon had been placed inside one of the canisters.

A police sapper was called to the scene. He used controlled fire to neutralize the danger.

The highway was reopened to traffic after being blocked for about an hour.

Meanwhile, security forces arrested seven wanted suspects in Judea and Samaria overnight.