26-year-old from Jenin indicted on terror charges for attacking Israeli with a hoe

Prosecutors in the Northern District Attorney’s Office have indicted a 26-year-old Palestinian from Jenin for attacking an Israeli with a hoe last month.

The victim, a man in his 60s, had gone out onto his balcony with a cup of coffee when the assailant ambushed him at the door and began to beat him with a hoe. He managed to push him away and cry for help, upon which the attacker fled the scene, police say.

The next morning, police caught the culprit hiding in horse stables in the nearby town of Muqeible and arrested him. The victim sustained light wounds, according to paramedics.

Spokespeople for the Israel Police and Shin Bet say in a joint statement that investigators were able to determine that the incident was a terror attack and that the assailant harbored nationalist motives.

Gan Ner, which is not in the West Bank, is located near the territory’s northern security barrier — close to Jenin, where the IDF in January launched a counterterrorism operation dubbed “Iron Wall.” The operation has since been expanded to other areas of the West Bank.

The assailant will be indicted on charges of terror-motivated aggravated assault and entering Israel illegally.