Palestinian assailant who seriously wounded soldier turns himself in
Shin Bet says man taken into custody and will be questioned following attack in which he stabbed soldier and hit his head with a rock
A Palestinian man who stabbed an Israeli soldier and hit him in the head with a rock Friday at a West Bank military post, seriously injuring him, turned himself in to Israeli security forces Saturday, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency said.
The agency said the man had surrendered thanks to the “continuous and concerted operational efforts” by the IDF and the Shin Bet in the West Bank over the weekend.
The suspect was taken in for questioning.
The attack occurred at a military post outside the Beit El settlement in the central West Bank.
The Israel Defense Forces said a fight broke out between the two after the Palestinian attacker broke into the military position near Beit El, outside Ramallah, where Israeli forces have been searching for the terrorist who committed a shooting attack on Thursday, killing two soldiers and seriously injuring a third serviceman and a civilian woman.
The assailant stabbed the soldier and struck him with a rock, the army said. He then fled the scene, prompting a manhunt.
The 21-year-old soldier, Naveh Rotem, was taken to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem in serious condition, unconscious and hooked up to a ventilator. Doctors said he was in life-threatening condition.
On Saturday doctors said Rotem’s condition had improved and stabilized and he was listed in moderate condition.
The attack took place close to the site of Thursday’s deadly terror shooting at a bus stop near the Givat Assaf outpost.
The soldier who was injured in the shooting attack remained in critical condition over the weekend, while doctors said the condition of the woman who was seriously wounded had improved.
The Israeli military launched a manhunt in the Ramallah area for the terrorists and sent additional forces to the West Bank to assist in the search, as well as to boost security near settlements and roads.
Thursday’s attack came on the heels of a shooting Sunday by Palestinian terrorists outside the Ofra settlement, in which seven Israelis were injured. Among the wounded was a pregnant woman whose baby died after being delivered prematurely.
A senior IDF commander indicated the same Hamas terror cell carried out the two drive-by shooting attacks, which occurred along the same highway.
There has been an increase in the number of attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers in recent weeks, after months of relative calm in the area, raising concerns of a potential renewed outbreak of regular, serious violence in the region.
Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report
The Times of Israel Community.