Under Hizbullah guidance, Palestinian terror groups in the West Bank have recently obtained high-grade explosives that have significantly improved the effectiveness of roadside improvised explosive devices (IED) used against IDF patrols, senior defense officials told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. According to the officials, the Palestinians, adopting Hizbullah tactics, have also improved the way they camouflage and hide the explosive devices on the sides of roads patrolled by IDF jeeps. While some of the explosives used in the bombs were smuggled into the West Bank - from the Sinai Desert - the Palestinians also used homemade explosives that were less effective but still lethal. "With predictions of another wave of violence in the West Bank around the corner, the Palestinian IEDs are a point of concern," said one senior official.
Since the beginning of the year, IDF troops in the West Bank have discovered two suicide belts, as well as three large IEDs, including one weighing 60 kilograms and another weighing 32 kg, both near Jenin. In 2006, troops discovered 109 IEDs in the West Bank in addition to 11 suicide belts. At Sunday's cabinet meeting, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Yuval Diskin reported growing Hizbullah efforts to establish infrastructure and gain a foothold in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.