Palestinian charged with attempted murder for stabbing two soldiers in terror attack

A Palestinian man who stabbed and wounded two Israeli soldiers in a terror attack in central Israel earlier this month has been charged with attempted murder.

According to an indictment filed at the Central District Court, 22-year-old Muhammad Awadeh from the West Bank town of Dura near Hebron did not have an entry permit to Israel when he carried out the attack on April 4.

The indictment says after Awadeh decided to carry out an attack, he armed himself with a knife and infiltrated into Israel through a gap in the West Bank security barrier.

Awadeh spent some time in Israel, including at his father’s home in the Tel Aviv neighborhood of Jaffa, the indictment says.

On April 4, Awadeh boarded a bus and got off at Nir Yitzhak junction, next to the Tzrifin base, after spotting soldiers. The indictment says he followed them for a short while before attacking them from behind with a knife.

One of the soldiers was seriously hurt, but despite his injuries, he managed to fight off Awadeh, who sought to steal his weapon and lay on top of it so that it could not be yanked away until civilian passersby overpowered the assailant.

Awadeh is charged with a terror act of attempted murder, a terror act of grievous bodily harm under aggravated circumstances, illegal possession of a knife, and illegal entry into Israel.

He will be held until the end of legal proceedings.