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Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the Israeli police have said, along with the Israeli Defence Forces, they were successful in foiling an attempt to smuggle 137 guns into Israel from Jordan, The Times of Israel reported.
According to the report, this is the largest-ever weapons bust on the Jordanian border. The police informed that the Magen anti-smuggling squad has been tracking a weapons smuggling organisation, which has been involved in many attempts to import firearms into Israel from Jordan in recent months. Members of the unit in the southern town of Tzofar last Thursday informed other forces about the ring's effort to cross the border with weapons. After being sent to the location, troops saw a car coming from the Israeli side towards the border and pursued it, according to The Times of Israel. Four individuals, among them the purported ringleader, were taken into custody. Police identified them as 20- and 30-year-old Bedouin residents of settlements in the Yeruham area. The authorities in the region report that they have discovered 137 firearms worth an estimated NIS 6 million (USD 1.6 million), including 120 handguns and 17 M-16 assault rifles, The Times of Israel reported. They have also discovered several weapon parts and over 250 magazines. Israel faces ongoing difficulties from weapons smuggling in the West Bank and along its extensive, porous eastern border with Jordan. The conflict in Gaza escalated after the October 7 attack by Hamas, where about 2,500 terrorists breached the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip, leading to casualties and the seizure of hostages. Israel has characterised its Gaza offensive as targeting Hamas' infrastructure with the goal of eliminating the entire terror group while minimising civilian casualties. Earlier, on Friday, the first group of Israeli hostages were handed over to the staff of the International Committee for Red Cross as part of the hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, Times of Israel reported The truce brokered by Qatar between Israel and Hamas went into effect at 7 a.m. (local time) on Friday. After the release of hostages on Friday, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that the nation is committed to returning all the hostages from Gaza, as it is "one of the aims of the war". In a video message posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Netanyahu had said, "We just completed the return of the first of our hostages: children, their mothers and additional women. Each of them is an entire world." US President Joe Biden hailed the development, calling it the "start of a process." He further affirmed hope that "dozens of hostages" will be returned to their families over the next few days. (ANI)
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