Jerusalem police say they thwarted suspected stabbing attack in Old City

Large knife found strapped to body of 17-year-old Palestinian, cops say; suspect, who was illegally in Israel, posted on social media: ‘No satisfaction without heaven’

A knife found concealed on the body of a Palestinian terror suspect, 17, near the Old City of Jerusalem, April 6, 2024. (Israel Police)
A knife found concealed on the body of a Palestinian terror suspect, 17, near the Old City of Jerusalem, April 6, 2024. (Israel Police)

A 17-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank was arrested near Jerusalem’s Old City on Saturday, suspected of intending to carry out a stabbing attack, police said.

Police frisked the young man due to his “suspicious behavior,” discovering a large knife taped to his body. After an interrogation, law enforcement concluded that the suspect intended to execute a terror plot, finding he had posted beforehand on social media: “The important thing is that I end my life content, because there is no satisfaction besides heaven.”

According to police, the terror suspect is from Birzeit, north of Ramallah, and was illegally in Israel.

A video released by police showed the suspect loitering in the shade at the top of a staircase, when a border police officer in full gear exited an adjacent building and drew close to the suspect. Three more officers moved in as the first one pulled the young man into a bind. The video then shows the suspect, face blurred, escorted into a police station.

The arrest on Saturday followed a tense but largely peaceful final weekend of Islam’s holy month of Ramadan. The final Friday of Ramadan saw some 120,000 people attend prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount.

Throughout the weekend, police arrested some two dozen people for pro-Hamas chants and attacking police officers, but the prayers were otherwise peacefully dispersed.

Ramadan’s relatively uneventful end allayed Israeli security forces’ fears that the perennially fraught holy month would see violence in Israel exacerbated due to the Gaza war.

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