Palestinian, 15, arrested with knife at Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs
Israeli security forces at holy site find blade among textbooks in the teen’s backpack
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A Palestinian teenager was arrested by Israeli security forces in the West Bank city of Hebron on Monday after a knife was found in his bag.
A police statement said the knife was discovered as the 15-year-old passed through a security checkpoint at the Tomb of the Patriarchs holy site.
Pictures showed the knife among the textbooks in the Palestinian’s backpack.
The teenager was taken for further questioning.
נער פלסטיני בן 15 נעצר לאחר שניסה לעבור באחת מעמדות הבידוק הביטחוניות במתחם מערת המכפלה שבחברון עם סכין מוחבא בין ספרי הלימוד שבתיקו
(צילום: דוברות המשטרה) pic.twitter.com/T2wXl0wHkm
— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) September 30, 2019
The flashpoint city of Hebron, where Palestinians live in close proximity to settlers who are guarded by Israeli troops, has been the scene of numerous stabbings and attempted stabbings in recent years.
Monday’s arrest came as police heightened their presence in Jerusalem and the West Bank for the High Holidays, which began Sunday evening with Rosh Hashanah.
As with many holidays, the Israel Defense Forces closed crossings and checkpoints to the West Bank and Gaza Strip for Rosh Hashanah. It will also do so for Yom Kippur and Sukkot later this month.
Closures for Jewish and Israeli holidays are a routine procedure, intended both to prevent terror attack attempts in Israel during the holiday period and to allow the Israeli security officials who operate the crossings to celebrate the festivals.
The arrest also came after a pair of stabbing attacks last week.
On Thursday, a female police officer was lightly wounded in a stabbing in Jerusalem’s Old City, and a day earlier an Israeli woman was stabbed and lightly injured in what police said was a terrorist attack near the central city of Modiin.
In the latter stabbing, police arrested a 14-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank on suspicion of committing the attack.
The Times of Israel Community.