4 Arab Israelis arrested for Hezbollah ties, smuggling Iranian explosives
The Shin Bet announced today that four Arab Israelis suspected of involvement with Hezbollah's smuggling activities were arrested last month.
Four Arab Israelis were arrested last month on suspicion of smuggling into the country munitions they received from Hezbollah, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency announced Thursday.
The four, residents of Kfar Qasim village and the town of Lod, were indicted on Thursday on charges of arms trafficking.
According to the Shin Bet announcement, which included pictures of those arrested, Kafr Qasim residents Jalal Khursa, Ahmed Issa and Muhammed Issa and Lod resident Nuh Assam were caught in possession of Iranian-made explosives. The Shin Bet suspects the four were part of a smuggling ring that received and distributed illegal arms and possibly drugs from Hezbollah. The security agency is now looking into other Israelis suspected of involvement in the smuggling ring.
A Times of Israel report revealed that the four men were arrested in two separate raids. The three Kafr Qasim residents were arrested on suspicion of having smuggled “a large number of quality weapons” into Israel. Two Iranian-made explosive devices, among other weapons, were seized by Israeli security forces in the Kafr Qasim raid.
