The Shin Bet Security Service and Israel Police arrested three terrorist cells in East Jerusalem they say are connected to a string of attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces in the West Bank, authorities announced Monday after a gag order was lifted in the case.
Police say the suspects have confessed to taking part in the attacks, most of which took place in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem in recent months.
In one incident, which occurred in March 2010, a security vehicle belonging to Jewish residents of the mostly Arab neighborhood was fired upon and a security guard at the site known as Beit Yehonatan – a contested Jewish property at the heart of the neighborhood – was wounded in the leg.
Three suspects were arrested in connection with that incident.
Six arrests were also made in connection with an incident that took place on May 2, in which attackers blocked a road in Silwan and attacked an Israeli security jeep with stones and Molotov cocktails after it was forced to stop. One of the passengers in the jeep was hurt by a stone that was hurled.