The Shin Bet recently foiled an attempt by Iran to smuggle large amounts of advanced weapons to terror operatives in the West Bank to be used in attacks on Israeli targets, the security agency revealed on Wednesday.
The recently seized shipment — similar to shipments busted in March 2024 and November 2024 — included 29 Claymore-type explosive devices; four drones, including two explosive-laden; 15 anti-tank rockets, along with an RPG launcher and three RPGs; 20 hand grenades; 53 handguns; seven assault rifles; nine machine guns; and 750 bullets, according to the Shin Bet
The case began several months ago, when a weapons dealer was detained by IDF troops in the Ramallah area of the West Bank. The Shin Bet said its interrogation of the dealer led the security agency to weapon smugglers, and eventually to the shipment itself.
The Shin Bet did not provide further details on where the shipment was captured.
According to the Shin Bet, two units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ special forces — Unit 4000 and Unit 18840 — were responsible for the plot, as well as the previous attempts in 2024.
Unit 4000 is the special operations division of the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization, headed by Jawad Ghafari; Unit 18840 is the special operations unit of the IRGC’s Quds Force in Syria, which is subordinate to the head of Iran’s clandestine Unit 840, Asghar Bakri.
Also involved in attempts to smuggle weapons from Iran to the West Bank were Salah al-Husseini and Muhammad Shuayb, two IRGC operatives who were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon in July, the Shin Bet said.
The Shin Bet has said that Iran has continued to try and smuggle weapons into the West Bank amid the war.
“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 agency added.
Weapons smuggling is a constant challenge for Israel along its long, porous eastern border with Jordan. Unlike Israel’s other frontiers — with Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria — the border with Jordan is largely open, often without significant fencing, and guarding is limited, making it an easy channel for large-scale smuggling.
On the Jordan border, the IDF recently established a new regional unit, known as the 96th “Gilad” Division, which is set to operate from the Israel-Jordan-Syria tri-border area in the north down to the Ramon Airport in southern Israel. Currently, it is tasked with the northern half of the border, in the Jordan Valley.
Israel also plans to upgrade its fence on the border with Jordan in the coming years.