At the beginning of April, three Palestinian roommates vanished from the West Bank city of Ramallah leaving their identity cards and cellphones stashed in their abandoned apartment, according to reports across Palestinian media outlets.

PA police launched a ten-day manhunt before detaining Basil al-Araj, 33, Muhammad Harb, 23, and Haitham Siyaj,19, from nearby a remote Ramallah-area village on April 9.

What began in Palestinian media as a missing person’s case has since morphed into backlash against the Palestinian government for their handling of the case, and cast light onto the wider policy of security coordination with Israel.

PA police said the three were found packing weapons, hand grenades, and camping equipment, in alleged preparation of an attack.