A dramatic incident took place on Highway 6, one of Israel’s main highways, early Monday afternoon, when a large number of Israeli security forces with drawn weapons stopped traffic and arrested Palestinian terror suspects in the middle of a highway as a police helicopter circled above.

Acting on Shin Bet intelligence about terrorists in a vehicle believed to be on the way to commit an imminent terror attack in the Sharon region, a large number of undercover police officers, Shin Bet operatives and special forces were dispatched to the area. Undercover police officers with drawn weapons and police officers in uniform suddenly jumped out of their vehicles and stopped a Mercedes van, ordering the occupants out of the vehicles and arresting them at the scene.

The police later provided a brief update, stating that Highway 6 was closed to traffic from the Horeshim interchange northward due to a police operation related to a security concern. They confirmed that the suspicious vehicle was stopped, all its occupants were arrested for questioning and a bomb squad is examining the vehicle.

The police later stated that 13 suspects from the vehicle were detained and transferred for questioning. No explosives or weapons were found in the vehicle or on the Palestinians and the threat of an imminent terror attack was ruled out. The van was driven by an Israeli who was transporting Palestinians who were in Israel illegally, including the main suspect, a Palestinian who is alleged to have entered Israel in order to commit a terror attack.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)