Palestinian carrying two bombs caught south of Jerusalem

A Palestinian man carrying two improvised explosive devices and a toy gun was caught south of Jerusalem on Saturday morning, Israel Radio reported. Sappers safely detonated the bombs. The 20-year-old man from Bethlehem told police investigators that he was planning to carry out a terror attack in Jerusalem. On Friday a 15-year-old Palestinian was caught carrying improvized bombs near the Hawara checkpoint close to Nablus. He said he was planning to transfer the bombs, concealed in aluminium cans, to terrorists on the other side of the security fence. Earlier Saturday an IDF naval boat patrolling the Gaza coast shot and killed one Palestinian near the border between Gaza and Egypt, Palestinian medical officials and the Israel Defense Forces said. The IDF said two men were swimming over from Egypt with bags of weapons they were smuggling. When they refused to heed the military’s command to halt and Palestinians on shore opened fire on the boat, the Israelis shot at the men, the army said. Israel Radio on Saturday quoted the IDF Spokesman as saying that this incident is an additional Palestinian attempt to smuggle weapons by sea, in a series of attempts recently foiled by the Israeli navy. Palestinian medical officials identified the slain man as Nazen Farhat, 27. A second man who was with Farhat in the Palestinian town of Rafah remained unaccounted for, the officials said. In a similar incident last Saturday, an Israeli naval patrol shot dead a 22-year-old Palestinian man whom Palestinians said was on a fishing trip. An Israeli military source said the boat had entered prohibited waters, ignored warning shots and orders to stop and fired on the Israeli vessel which shot back. Israel’s navy has largely blockaded Gaza’s coast during much of a five-year-old Palestinian uprising, forcing Palestinian boats to stay close to shore. Israel says it is a security measure to prevent weapons smuggling by sea and attacks on Israelis. Palestinians say it is collective punishment that has crippled Gaza’s fishing industry. Meanwhile, IDF artillery opened fire on a site in the Gaza Strip from which a mortar shell that landed near the border was launched.