Alert locals lead to capture of East Jerusalem man hiding a knife
Residents of Nof Zion neighborhood call police over suspicious man; blade found concealed inside his sleeve
Vigilant residents of a Jerusalem neighborhood spotted a man acting suspiciously Friday morning and called the police, thereby foiling what the security forces say was a potential terror attack.
According to the police, Border Police officers on patrol in the area of the Nof Zion neighborhood received notification from local residents that a suspicious man was scoping Jewish homes.
The force arrived at the site and found the man standing with his right hand hidden behind a wall.
Keeping a safe distance, the officers ordered the man to display his hand. The man exposed his hand but refused to unclench his fist, despite the officers’ request. Instead, he insisted that they return him to his home in the predominantly Arab neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber in East Jerusalem.
The police insisted on seeing what was in his hand, in order to ensure that he was not carrying a weapon or other suspicious items, and eventually brought him to the ground to check what he was holding. Their search revealed that he had concealed a knife inside the sleeve of his right arm.
The man, a 21-year-old from Jabel Mukaber, was taken in for questioning. He told investigators that he had planned to carry out an attack, the Hebrew-language NRG website reported.
Israelis have been stabbed in a series of attacks, primarily in Jerusalem and the West Bank, since the current round of violence began last month. At least 10 Israelis have been killed and dozens more wounded in the attacks. Some 40 Palestinians have also died, more than half while carrying out attacks and others in clashes with Israeli security forces.
On Friday morning, an IDF soldier was stabbed and wounded in the shoulder by a 16-year-old Palestinian in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc. The soldier had been guarding an olive harvest near the settlement of Neve Michael — near the checkpoint in the area of Tzomet Gvaot in the West Bank — when he was attacked, Channel 2 reported. The soldier shot his assailant in the knee during the attack.
