An employee at the French consulate in Jerusalem was arrested by Israeli authorities on suspicion of smuggling weapons from the Gaza Strip, officials said on Monday. Romain Franck was suspected of using a diplomatic vehicle to send the arms from the Hamas-controlled enclave to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Frenchman and several Palestinian suspects are accused of belonging to a gun-running network that eventually sold the weapons to arms dealers, Israels Shin Bet domestic security agency said in a statement. Romain Franck is accused of moving a total of 70 pistols and two assault rifles between the Palestinian territories on at least five occasions, the agency said after a gag order on the case was lifted. He has been in custody since February 15. Franck “acted for financial profit, on his own initiative and without the knowledge of his superiors,” a Shin Bet statement said. He is not believed to have also had an ideological motives such as support for Palestinian groups, a Shin Bet official told Reuters. “This is a very serious incident in which the immunity and privileges granted to foreign diplomatic missions in Israel were cynically exploited to smuggle dozens of weapons that may be used for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces,” the statement said. Franck was arrested along with a Palestinian from East Jerusalem employed as a security guard at the consulate, as well as seven other suspects, the Shin Bet added. It accused him of using a consulate-owned sports utility vehicle, which enjoyed more cursory Israeli security checks due to its diplomatic status, to bring the factory-produced guns from Gaza to Palestinian arms dealers in the West Bank. According to the Shin Bet statement, Franck received the guns from a Palestinian employed by the French Cultural Center in Gaza. It could not immediately be reached for comment. Franck, 23, was due to appear at a 1230 GMT Israeli court hearing at which formal charges would be filed. His lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment on how Franck might plead. Five of the suspects will also be charged in court later Monday. A spokesman for the French Embassy in Tel Aviv described Franck as “a member of the consulate-general in Jerusalem.” He said Sunday: “We take this case very seriously and are in close contact with the Israeli authorities". Franck "has benefited and continues to enjoy the consular protection" provided to French nationals, he added. An Israeli official said on condition of anonymity that while authorities were taking the case "very seriously," diplomatic relations were not affected. "The relations with France are excellent and wont be affected by this affair," the official said. "We thank the French authorities for their cooperation." Israel has previously accused international actors, among them Palestinian UN workers or those for non-governmental organizations, of participating in hostile activities, including collaborating with Hamas. But the charge against a French citizen employed by a diplomatic mission is rare. Most countries keep their embassies to Israel in Tel Aviv, as well as consulates in Jerusalem that handle diplomatic outreach to the Palestinians. Israel counts all of Jerusalem as its capital, a status not recognized abroad although the United States, breaking with other world powers, plans to move its embassy in Israel to the city in May. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they seek to establish in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.