Palestinian teen arrested with knife at Hebron checkpoint
Minor detained and taken for further questioning after being caught with blade under his shirt near the Tomb of the Patriarchs
Border Police officers arrested a Palestinian teenager carrying a knife at a checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday, the third such incident over the past week.
After being asked by police to lift his shirt — where he was hiding the knife — as he passed through a checkpoint near the city’s Tomb of the Patriarch’s holy site, the 15-year-old pulled the knife on the officers, who in turn aimed their weapons at him, a police spokeswoman said.
The teenager was then arrested by the Border Police and taken for further questioning by security forces, the police spokeswoman said, adding that no shots were fired during the arrest.
Police said they were looking into the teenager’s motive.
On Friday, a Palestinian man in his twenties was arrested in Hebron when he was discovered to be hiding a knife on his person, while on Wednesday Border Police officers arrested a Palestinian teenager in the West Bank city after finding a knife in his possession.
Both of those incidents also took place at checkpoints near the Tomb of the Patriarchs.
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 since a wave of attacks carried out by Palestinians began in October 2015.