Israel busts plotting Palestinian terror cell, officials say

Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Israeli authorities said Wednesday they have arrested 50 people and disbanded a Palestinian terror cell responsible for several attacks that had been planning future plots.

Security agency Shin Bet said the arrests occurred over several weeks and involved members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PLO. The agency confiscated a large cache of weapons, communication equipment and bomb-making materials, investigators said.

Among those arrested was cell leader and accused bomb maker Samer Arbid. The agency said the cell was preparing new attacks in Israel, many in the Ramallah area.

"The Shin Bet investigation revealed the immediate danger posed by the activities of the PFLP, as well as the security risk posed by the organization's leadership leading military operations in the field," the agency said.

"The large amount of weapons seized and the information obtained during the Shin Bet interrogations of the cell members show the risk and the high level of preparedness to execute further serious attacks in the near future which were prevented by the counter-terrorism activity."

Authorities believe the cell was responsible for attacking a tourist location in August that killed a 17-year-old girl near the West Bank settlement of Doley.