Israel cracks down on Palestinian weapon mills

Israeli security forces are cracking down on metal workshops in the West Bank suspected of manufacturing a crude homemade gun, which has emerged as the weapon of choice for Palestinian attackers in months of deadly assaults on civilians and soldiers -- including in this week's Tel Avivshootingthat killed four Israelis.

Welded together from spare parts of various weapons and pipes, it looks like a short-barreled submachine gun, with a long magazine.

The weapon, known by its street name "Carlo," was used by the two Palestinian terrorists who killed four people and wounded several others in a popular Tel Aviv area filled with crowded shops and restaurants on Wednesday night, as well as in several other attacks since the current wave of terror erupted in September.

"There has been an increase in security operations in and around the West Bank area to try and find factories where the weapons are made," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, adding the quality of the workmanship varies from gun to gun, depending on the materials and the manufacturer.

Palestinians have used them "in a number of terrorist attacks over the past few months," Rosenfeld said. A similar weapon was used in February by Palestinian terrorists to kill a young policewoman in Jerusalem, he noted.

According to an Israeli intelligence official, the homemade gun has become the weapon of choice for Palestinian terrorists, ousting the Kalashnikov rifle that has traditionally been in use.

Carlo is somewhat based on the Swedish Carl Gustav submachine gun because it is easy to copy with the materials at hand. It's popularity stems from its availability, the official added.

"Real weapons" are now hard to find and expensive due to raids carried out by Israeli security forces, as well as those carried out by Palestinian Authority security forces, which control about a third of Judea and Samaria.

Over the last eight months, and including the assault in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Palestinians have carried out dozens of attacks on civilians and security forces, mostly stabbings, shootings and car-ramming assaults that have killed 32 Israelis and two Americans.

About 200 Palestinians have been killed during that time, most of them terrorists, and some in clashes with Israeli troops. The assaults were once near-daily incidents but they have become less frequent in recent weeks.