Jerusalem, 30 October, 2025 (TPS-IL) — A Palestinian teenager from Bethlehem who was freed months ago under the Israel–Hamas ceasefire agreement was arrested again on suspicion of manufacturing explosives for terror groups and planning an attack on Rachel’s Tomb, Israeli police said Thursday.
The boy, whose name cannot be published because he is a minor, had been detained about a year ago after being caught with 25 explosive devices he had built himself. Police said he intended to target Rachel’s Tomb, the burial site of the Biblical matriarch located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
The suspect had previously been arrested in 2023 for stone-throwing attacks and released that December as part of the prisoner–hostage exchange. He was detained again in 2024 for making explosives and released during the January 2025 ceasefire.
In response to the announcement, the head of a yeshiva located at the tomb, Rabbi Eli Elkaslasi, acknowledged the risk but expressed cautious trust in Israel’s leadership.
“We swallow this deal because of our brothers who were held captive in the tunnels,” Elkaslasi told TPS-IL. “It’s no secret that many terrorist attacks happened after the releases, but let’s hope the army and the government know how to handle it.”
Twelve families live within the Rachel’s Tomb compound, alongside students and staff of the Bnei Rachel yeshiva.
Herzl Hajaj, a vocal opponent of such prisoner releases, told The Press Service of Israel that the incident proved the dangers of freeing terrorists.
“A terrorist released today will murder us tomorrow,” Hajaj warned. “Whoever did not understand this from the Shalit deal that brought us the 7.10 massacre will not learn from the next massacre either. Unfortunately, we are the sheep that will be slaughtered in the amnesty that the Americans are making with the Arab countries.”
Hajaj’s daughter, Shir, and three other soldiers were killed in a 2017 truck-ramming attack in Jerusalem.
Approximately 1,200 people were killed and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. More than 2,000 Palestinian prisoners were freed as part of ceasefire agreements in January and October.
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