Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Illustrative: Border Police officers stand at a checkpoint near Hebron's Tomb of the Patriarchs on January 19, 2018. (Border Police)
For the second day in a row, Border Police arrested a Palestinian suspect in the West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday, after finding a knife hidden under his clothes at the entrance to the Tomb of the Patriarchs holy site.
After the 15-year-old boy set off the metal detector at a checkpoint outside the holy site, officers cocked their weapons at him and asked him to slowly raise his shirt.
Upon recognizing the knife underneath, security forces detained the teen and took him in for additional questioning.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Border Police forces made a similar arrest of a 23-year-old Palestinian man who raised the suspicions of officers at the holy site’s entrance. They uncovered a knife under his clothes upon carrying out a full-body inspection.
The knife found by Border Police hidden under the clothes of a 15-year-old Palestinian, who was detained outside Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs on February 10, 2018. (Border Police)
Also Friday, security forces arrested an armed Palestinian teenager at the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Hashmonaim.
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The Tomb of the Patriarchs is a frequent target for attempted stabbing attacks.
In January Border Police officers made similar arrests of a man and a woman in two separate incidents at the site, after finding knives on their persons.
A Palestinian teen was arrested trying to enter the holy site with a knife in December, and in November two 17-year-old Palestinians were also detained after each attempted to smuggle a knife into the site in two separate incidents a day apart.
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