In a briefing about IOF activities in 2016 and the anti-occupation attacks that took place in the West Bank over the course of the year an Israeli senior officer stated that while there have been significantly fewer vehicular attacks as well as stabbings shooting attacks at Israeli soldiers remain a main threat.
“Shootings are undoubtedly the main challenge in Judea and Samaria” the officer said stressing that “we are working very hard to thwart them and we’re stepping up our efforts to shut down weapons factories.”
Security forces believe that most shooting attacks are carried out with weapons locally produced in the West Bank most commonly knock-offs of the obsolete Karl Gustav sub-machine gun.
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) IOF and Israeli Police have stepped up their efforts to uncover underground workshops that produce illegal weapons carrying out nightly raids in the West Bank to shut them down and to confiscate weapons he highlighted.
According to the officer the IOF shut down more than 40 gun-making workshops and confiscated over 445 illegal weapons a significant increase from the 170 weapons seized in 2015.
As a result the price of the popular Karl Gustav has tripled in the past year from NIS 1500 in January 2015 to NIS 4500 in December 2016.
