Weapons Cache Found in Water Cistern Near Givon HaHadashah, Suspected for Terror Use

Border Police officers from the Jerusalem Envelope uncovered a concealed weapons cache at the bottom of a deep water cistern in the Palestinian village of al-Jib, near the settlement of Givon HaHadashah in the Binyamin Brigade area. Security officials believe the weapons were intended for terrorist activity.

The operation began after intelligence was received in an investigation handled by the Border Police’s Jerusalem Envelope investigative unit. When forces arrived, they carried out initial searches and dives, but the cistern was so deep and the terrain so difficult that they could not reach the bottom.

Fire and Rescue teams and a professional diver were then brought in. Over several nights, large amounts of water were pumped out and dives were conducted to the floor of the cistern until, overnight, officers found several sealed bags containing a significant stockpile of weapons.

Police said the seized items included six improvised Carlo rifles, magazines, 5.56mm ammunition, two mobile phones, a remote trigger, a pipe bomb, an explosive device, an explosive block, liquid explosives, weapon parts, optical sights, and a bottle of gun oil. All weapons were transferred for further investigation, while explosives and devices found at the scene were destroyed by Border Police bomb disposal teams from Judea and Samaria. Police said the seizure likely prevented a serious security incident and called it a major operational success in the fight against terrorism and in protecting the Jerusalem area.