The Israel Police arrested an Arab resident of a Jerusalem seamline community who broke into a car into a vehicle in the Terminal 3 parking lot at Ben-Gurion Airport and stole an M-16 automatic rifle from it.

An Israeli police investigation led to the arrest and indictment of 36-year-old Nur al-Din Jazawi, a resident of A-Ram, north of Jerusalem, after he broke into a car at Ben-Gurion Airport and stole a short M-16 assault rifle and a suitcase with personal belongings.

The incident occurred on 28 Tammuz, but it was just cleared for publication on Wednesday, 20 Menachem Av. A female soldier arrived at the airport with her sister to pick up a relative arriving on a flight from abroad.

The soldier sitting in the front seat put her weapon under the seat and placed her bag on the rear seat, containing two full magazines. The two women parked the car in the parking lot near Terminal 3, and the soldier decided to leave the weapon in the car and put the briefcase on the seat to conceal it.

The defendant, who arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport in a vehicle, parked his car in the Terminal 3 area and began to walk around the parking lot, armed with an electronic device enabling the opening of a vehicle from a distance.

He came across the soldier’s vehicle, which he opened, and then saw items inside. He walked away, returning a few minutes later after preparing for the theft, with his shirt lifted to hide his face, taking the weapon and putting it in the suitcase that was in the vehicle, and then left in a taxi that took him to Beit Haninah in Jerusalem.

An Israeli police team at Ben-Gurion Airport opened an investigation into the incident and arrested him on 5 Av. The investigation revealed that the suspect had arrived in Ramallah not long after the break-in, where he wanted to sell the stolen items. Police have not yet recovered the stolen automatic weapon, which he likely sold.

In the interrogation of the defendant, the investigators managed to collect evidence against him regarding his involvement in additional burglaries he committed against vehicles in Ohr Yehuda, where he stole a purse with credit cards, cash and personal belongings, and a second laptop and documents. An indictment was filed against the defendant along with a request that he be held without bail.

Police call on the tzibur at large to refrain from leaving weapons in parked vehicles, adding that in general, the ‘abandonment of weapons’ constitutes a criminal offense.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)