Israel says busts 3 "weapons factories" in West Bank

The Israeli military said Monday its troops shut down three unauthorized weapons manufacturing plants in the West Bank and arrested 19 Palestinians.

The raid took place early on Monday morning in the Jenin district, in northern West Bank, and in Dhahiriya, a city south of Hebron.

"Overnight, security forces conducted several operations in order to uncover and seize illicit weaponry," a military spokesperson said in a statement.

In Jenin, the forces closed two weapons manufacturing workshops and seized four pistols, rifle parts, magazines and ammunition, according to the spokesperson.

Another factory was uncovered and shut down in Dhahiriya, the spokesperson said, adding that an improvised rifle was found in the village of Beit Surif, west of Hebron.

The raid followed an operation in August, in which Israeli forces raided seven Palestinian weapons mills in the Hebron and Bethlehem area, in what the military said was the largest crackdown of its kind over the last year.

Israeli forces also arrested 19 Palestinians overnight in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the army said in a separate notice.

"Fifteen of the detainees are suspected of involvement in popular terror activity and violent riots," the statement said without elaboration.

The raid came amid a year-long wave of violence involving stabbing, car-ramming, and shooting attacks, which has claimed the lives of at least 230 Palestinians and 34 Israelis. Israel says the most of the Palestinians were killed amidst attacks or attempted attacks.

The Palestinians and human rights organizations say that Israel is using excessive force to quell the unrest, and in many cases, the Israeli forces kill Palestinian youths who could be stopped without using lethal force.

In several other cases, Palestinians were killed because they were mistaken to be attackers, according to Palestinians and rights groups.

Israeli leaders accuse the Palestinian National Authority of "inciting" the unrest, while the Palestinians say it is the result of 49 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, home to more than 5 million Palestinians, where they wish to establish their state. Endit