Crime

By Pesach Benson • October 8, 2025

Jerusalem, 8 October, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israeli security forces intercepted a significant weapons shipment sent by Iran to Palestinian terror groups in judea and Samaria, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced on Wednesday. The seizure follows similar operations in March and November 2024.

“This shipment, like its predecessors, is part of an ongoing Iranian effort to undermine security in the region by arming terror cells on the ground whose purpose is to carry out attacks against Israelis and IDF troops,” the Shin Bet said.

The cache included 29 Claymore-type explosives, 15 anti-tank rockets with an RPG launcher and three RPGs, 20 hand grenades, 53 handguns, seven assault rifles, nine machine guns, 750 bullets, and four drones, two of which were capable of carrying explosives.

The operation began months ago when Israeli soldiers detained a Palestinan weapons dealer in the Ramallah area. Interrogation by the Shin Bet led investigators to the smugglers and eventually to the shipment itself, though authorities did not disclose the exact location of its discovery.

The Shin Bet attributed the plot to Iran’s Unit 4000, the Special Operations Division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Intelligence Organization, previously led by Jawad Ghafari, and the IRGC Quds Force’s Special Operations Unit in Syria, known as Unit 18840. Both units report to Asghar Bakri, head of Iran’s clandestine Unit 840.

Two IRGC operatives, Salah al-Husseini and Muhammad Shuayb, who were involved in previous smuggling attempts, were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon in July, according to the Shin Bet.

“The continuing attempts to smuggle advanced weapons into Judea and Samaria demonstrate Iran’s persistent commitment to destabilizing the region,” the Shin Bet added.