Israeli
Policeman Arrested for Selling Arms to Palestinians
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7
Israeli soldiers have been arrested in connection with the sale
to Palestinians of 60,000 rounds of ammunition stolen from the
army
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OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, July 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A tenth Israeli
has been arrested on suspicion of selling ammunition to Palestinians,
Israeli police said Thursday, July 25.
According
to Israeli daily newspaper, Ha’aretz, police believe that
policeman Eran Mulai, together with the other suspects, sold some
50,000 bullets for M-16 automatic rifles to members of the Palestinian
resistcane Tanzim group.
Mulai,
a soldier doing his compulsory military service in the police force,
is from the colonial Jewish settlement in the West Bank city of
Al-Khalil (Hebron).
According
to Israeli police records, other Jewish settlers and soldiers were
earlier arrested in charges of selling thousands of bullets to
Palestinians.
Twelve
people, including two Palestinians and seven soldiers, have now been
arrested by civilian and military police in connection with the sale
to Palestinians of 60,000 rounds of ammunition stolen from the Israeli
army, police and army spokesmen said.
Last
week, four Israeli army soldiers, among them three non-commissioned
officers, were arrested, Ha’aretz reported. “The four live
in settlements south of Mount Hebron and serve in various army units,
including a transportation unit and an air force unit,” it added.
An
army spokesperson confirmed that four soldiers had been arrested on
the matter and that if the suspicions are proven, the army “will see
the case in a very grave light.” The families of the four suspects
vehemently deny suspicions against them.
According
to the Israeli daily, two of those arrested are brothers, residents of
the Adura settlement, and the other two, also brothers, reside in
Telem, an adjacent settlement.
Along
with the four soldiers, two Palestinians with whom the four were in
contact were arrested.
One
of the Palestinians is a resident of the village of Tarkumiyah also in
Al-Khalil.
The
second Palestinian has Israeli citizenship. The two are suspected of
serving as contacts in transferring the stolen ammunition.
Some
of the suspects are accused of also driving trucks for Palestinians to
bypass military checkpoints, news agencies reported.
Israeli
newspapers have said the suspects received 200 shekels ($45) in cash
to drive the trucks through checkpoints.
Meanwhile,
Quds Press said Thursday that a high ranking Israeli officer working
in the foreign ministry is also involved in stealing and selling
weapons .
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