Palestinian hurls explosive at West Bank intersection

Army says no troops injured in incident at Jit Junction near Nablus; suspect apprehended

Illustrative: Israeli soldiers block the entrance to the industrial zone of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, on June 15, 2014. (Hadas Parush/Flash90/File)
Illustrative: Israeli soldiers block the entrance to the industrial zone of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, on June 15, 2014. (Hadas Parush/Flash90/File)

A Palestinian man threw a pipe bomb at an intersection in the northern West Bank Sunday, causing neither injury to nearby Israeli troops nor damage to their post, the army said.

A police sapper was called to the scene in order to disarm the explosive device, and the Route 60 highway was temporarily closed in both directions, police said.

The incident took place at the Jit Junction, west of the Palestinian city of Nablus.

IDF troops launched a search for the culprit, focusing on Nablus, with soldiers  checking those entering and exiting the city, as well as sweeping the surrounding area.

A few hours later, security forces arrested a suspect in the attack, and found two additional explosive devices in his car, the military said.

On Saturday, police said they foiled an attempted stabbing attack, detaining a Palestinian man carrying a knife and a meat cleaver near the northern West Bank settlement of Beit El. The man was stopped by traffic police near Beit El. As he was acting suspiciously, officers searched his vehicle and found the weapons. The man, a 28-year old from the village of Dura, near Hebron in the southern West Bank, told police he was planning to carry out a stabbing attack, police said.

Earlier in the day, border police at the Shuafat checkpoint near Jerusalem arrested a Palestinian who tried to go through the metal detector while carrying a knife.

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