A Palestinian man has been arrested after border police discovered a powerful explosive device embedded on his truck at the Reihan crossing near Jenin in the West Bank, according to a statement by the Defence Ministry.
Reports show the truck came to a halt at the Reihan Crossing also carrying goods intended to be sold at settlements within the green line.
Israeli police sappers worked hard to defuse the bomb, a statement said.
Today is Israel’s Remembrance Day when Israel commemorates fallen soldiers and victims of terror and war. Defence Minister Avigdor Liberman said that “The vigilance and professionalism of the crossing authorities at the Defence Ministry led to the discovery of a bomb and the thwarting of a major attack on [Israel’s] 70th Independence Day, and we will chase down the scoundrels who planned to harm our holiday.”
The head of the Defence Ministry’s Crossings Authority, Erez Zidon said that he was “proud of the inspectors who acted exactly as we would expect, first identifying the suspicious truck and then identifying the smuggling attempt, which turned out to be an explosive device.”
Another incident was prevented on Wednesday morning; the Israeli Police arrested a Palestinian man at the Qalandiya checkpoint north of Jerusalem after a search uncovered a knife. The Palestinian man, 32 who resided in Gaza, appeared to have been living in the West Bank, was questioned by the police. According to officials, in his original questioning, he confessed that he had planned to carry out a stabbing attack.
