IDF seizes weapons in W. Bank raid following Friday's car ramming attack

Security forces searched a number of locations throughout the village and found parts of weapons and an improvised rifle.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Updated: MARCH 18, 2018 09:27
IDF seizes weapons In W. Bank raid following Friday's car ramming attack, March 18, 2018 (IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The IDF seized illegal weapons, including an improvised rifle, in overnight raids in the West Bank on Saturday night, one day after two soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack near the West Bank settlement of Mevo Dotan.  According to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, units from the Menashe Brigade continued to operate in the Barta'a area following the car ramming attack near the village of Yabed, in which Captain Ziv Daus, 21, and Sergeant Netanel Kahalani, 20, were killed.
Security forces searched a number of locations throughout the village and found parts of weapons and an improvised rifle.
"IDF will continue to act to prevent terrorism and to protect the security of the residents of the State of Israel," the army said in a statement.
Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers began over the weekend as hundreds of Palestinians rioted in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to mark 100 days since United States President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
On Friday, two IDF soldiers were lightly injured by stones thrown by protesters. One was hurt near Tulkarm and evacuated to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba; the other was injured near the Yitzhar settlement next to Nablus.
Daus and Kahalni were killed, and two others were injured, after a Palestinian drove his vehicle into them outside the Mevo Dotan settlement in the northern West Bank on Friday.
The IDF confirmed it was a terror attack, as the driver intentionally sped toward the troops who had been standing near a pillbox post located on Route 585 near the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Mevo Dotan, some 10 kilometers southwest of Jenin, where Palestinian protesters had been throwing rocks and molotov cocktails toward the road.
The Shin Bet security service identified the terrorist as 26-year-old Alaa Kabha, a resident of Barta'a and a former security prisoner who had been released in April 2017. He was captured by Israeli security forces shortly after the attack and was lightly injured.
The Hamas terror group praised the attack. Hamas spokesperson Hazam Kasam said the “this attack makes it clear that the intifada is continuing for the Palestinian people.”
Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.