Cops arrest East Jerusalem girl caught with knife for second time

Police officers in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem Old City on Monday arrested an East Jerusalem teenage girl found in possession of a knife, on suspicion she was planning to carry out a stabbing attack.

This was the second time in two weeks the 15-year-old had been detained for carrying a knife, the police said in a statement.

The teenager “raised the suspicions” of police officers in the Jewish Quarter, who called for her to halt. The police initially reported that the knife had been found in the 15-year-old’s purse, but later clarified that it had, in fact, been hidden in her sleeve. As a result, they brought the teen in for questioning.

When officers checked the girl’s information, they found that she had been arrested two weeks before, under the same suspicion.

The girl, who was not named, was released a few days after her first arrest, when she claimed the knife in her bag was purchased for use in her family’s home. However, police now believe that she was preparing to attack Jewish Israelis.

“The way she took out the knife today — and other pieces of information that have been collected — increase the suspicion, and it appears as though the officers prevented the injury of innocent civilians today, thanks to their awareness and sensitivity to aberrations,” the Israel Police said in a statement Monday evening.

Jerusalem’s Old City has been a frequent site of stabbing attacks in the ongoing cycle of violence, with many attacks taking place at Damascus Gate.