JERUSALEM — Thousands of commando-style knives, swords, fireworks and small devices capable of delivering an electric shock were found hidden in two shipping containers supposedly loaded with Christmas decorations, the Israeli police and customs authority said Thursday.

The shipment came from China this month and was destined for East Jerusalem, where tensions are heightened amid a dispute over a holy site in the Old City.

The police said they had arrested five Arab citizens of Israel in connection with the case.

Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem have carried out a series of deadly attacks against Israelis in recent weeks, and Palestinian youths have clashed with the police there, throwing stones and fireworks directly at the police in what some have termed a “fireworks uprising.”

The police said Thursday that there were a few boxes of holiday decorations in the containers to disguise the nature of the shipment, but a search found more than 5,200 knives and hundreds of thousands of fireworks, many of them powerful.