IDF says Palestinian tries to stab soldier in West Bank, is shot dead

Military says suspect was ‘neutralized’ after approaching troops with knife near al-Fawar refugee camp, near Hebron

By Emanuel Fabian

You will receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

You will no longer receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

9 February 2023, 5:45 pm

Edit

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

The scene of what the military said was an attempted stabbing attack near the al-Fawar refugee camp, near Hebron in the southern West Bank, February 9, 2023. (Social media: Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

A Palestinian man who attempted to stab Israeli soldiers near the West Bank city of Hebron on Thursday was shot by troops, the military and medics said. He later died of his injuries.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the suspect, armed with a knife, approached troops at a guard post near the al-Fawar refugee camp and tried to stab them.

“The forces fired at him and neutralized him,” the IDF said in a statement, attaching a photo of the knife.

Images from the scene showed the suspect being treated by army medics before being taken to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.

The Rescuers Without Borders emergency service said his death was declared there.

The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry named him as 22-year-old Sharif Hassan Rabaa.

This photo from the IDF shows a knife it says was used in an attempted stabbing near the West Bank city of Hebron, February 9, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

No Israeli soldiers were hurt in the incident, the military said.

The incident came as tensions remain high in the West Bank.

The IDF has pressed on with an anti-terror offensive to deal with a series of attacks that left 31 people in Israel dead in 2022, and seven more in an attack last month.

The IDF’s operation has netted more than 2,500 arrests in near-nightly raids. It also left 171 Palestinians dead in 2022, and another 43 since the beginning of the year, many of them while carrying out attacks or during clashes with security forces, though some were uninvolved civilians.