Shin Bet: Jerusalem stabber entered Israel from West Bank illegally

The Palestinian teenager who stabbed two Israeli men outside Jerusalem’s Central Bus Station, moderately wounding them, entered Israel illegally, according to the Shin Bet security service.

When and how the 17-year-old terrorist, Basil Shawamra, entered Israel from his hometown of Deir al-Asal al-Fauqa, near Hebron, in the West Bank is not immediately known, the Shin Bet says.

This appears to refute a claim by opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who blamed the government’s decision to end a closure on the West Bank for the attack.

“Two days ago, against the view of the police, [Prime Minister Naftali Bennett] removed the closure on Judea and Samaria. The tragic results we saw today with the terror attack at the Jerusalem Central Bus Station,” Netanyahu says.

As the closure would only affect the entrance of Palestinians with work permits into Israel, the illegal infiltration by Shawamra would likely not have been impeded.