Palestinian posed as chareidi to smuggle illegals through A-Zaim

Border Police forces at the A-Zaim crossing near Jerusalem arrested seven illegal Palestinian residents on Thursday, including a driver who attempted to disguise himself as a chareidi Jew. The man had grown peyos, wore a kippah, and dressed in chareidi clothing in an apparent effort to avoid scrutiny at the checkpoint.

The officers flagged the vehicle for inspection after it aroused their suspicion. A check revealed six additional illegal residents inside, all without permits to be in Israel. The driver himself was also found to be residing illegally in the country. Investigators believe he adopted the chareidi appearance specifically to blend in and evade inspection by security forces.

A further check showed that the vehicle had been taken off the road and was operating with cloned license plates. The seven men, residents of the Chevron and Tulkarm areas, were detained and transferred to the Border Police Jerusalem District station for questioning. The vehicle was impounded and is subject to confiscation proceedings.

The arrest is the latest in a series of similar operations at checkpoints in recent months. Two weeks ago, Border Police at A-Zaim detained four illegal residents, three of whom were discovered hiding in a vehicle's trunk. In that case as well, the car was found to be using a cloned license plate.

Earlier this week, undercover Border Police forces in Judea and Samaria, acting on Shin Bet intelligence, arrested a wanted Fatah operative in the village of Dan. The suspect had been evading security forces for an extended period and was found hiding in a clothing shop. He emerged with his hands raised after the building was surrounded.