Israeli police continued on Thursday to investigate a reserves officer arrested a day earlier on suspicion of being involved in the sale of arms to Palestinians. The man, who holds the rank of major in the Israeli army, is a resident of the southern port city of Ashdod.
According to police, he sold thousands of bullets to four soldiers who then passed them on to Palestinian merchants. The Foreign Ministry on Thursday rejected earlier reports that the man was also a ministry employee.
The officer's arrest came after the interrogation of four Israelis, residents of the West Bank settlements of Adura and Telem, who were detained earlier this week for allegedly transferring weapons to Palestinians in the Hebron area over a period of four years.
A Jerusalem magistrate on Wednesday extended by nine days the remand of a settler from Adura. Israeli police suspect that, in addition to weapons sales, the suspects may have been involved in smuggling Palestinian vehicles into Israel illegally, while they were in uniform, in return for money, Haaretz reported. (Albawaba.com)
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