Police find East Jerusalem man dead in West Bank
Forensic teams examine the scene near Bethlehem as security forces make multiple arrests across the territory.
By Daniela Ortega ·
Police recovered the body of an East Jerusalem man in his 40s in the Wadi Rahal area near Bethlehem on Monday. The deceased was an Israeli resident found lying in the wadi. Officers, forensic investigators, and IDF soldiers moved to the scene to collect evidence. The body will go to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute for an autopsy. Preliminary findings suggest the death was a crime rather than a terror act.
In a separate overnight operation on Sunday night, security forces arrested a Palestinian man in Bethlehem. Police said the man has links to Hamas. During the same sweep, officers searched the homes of the Hamas suspect and another Bethlehem resident suspected of holding weapons. The search team took a loaded hunting rifle, IDF uniforms, and technological items. The two men were brought to the Ma'ale Adumim police station. They face charges for illegal weapon possession and unauthorized military equipment.
A third arrest occurred near Hebron on Sunday. Officers detained a man in his 30s who had a hunting rifle and a large supply of ammunition. Police also found a cache of stolen IDF weapons in Kalansuwa, a central Israeli city with a majority Arab population. Two people were arrested in connection with that discovery. The raid was part of a wider effort to cut violent crime in Arab neighborhoods.
The Kalansuwa cache included one Kalashnikov rifle, three M-16 assault rifles, and eight handguns. Officers also seized six fragmentation grenades, two stun grenades, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and three tactical vests. An explosives expert handled the grenades after the weapons were found. The two arrested individuals are family members who were at the site. Police submitted all items as evidence and continue their investigation.
In Rahat, police rescued a man chained to the floor of his home over the weekend. Officers were in the city looking for illegal weapons when they found him. His leg was shackled to the floor. Police freed him and started looking into the situation. Early findings indicate his family members chained him because of drug use. The man's brother was arrested and taken to the Rahat police station for questioning.
Source: The Jerusalem Post
