Palestinian teen throws knife at IDF troops, runs away; none injured

Army launches manhunt after failed attack at checkpoint on Route 443 in the West Bank

By Judah Ari Gross 4 October 2018, 2:00 pm

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Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.

Illustrative photo of Israeli cars driving through a checkpoint on Route 443 in the West Bank (Gili Yaari/Flash90)

A Palestinian teen threw a knife at an Israeli soldier at a checkpoint along a West Bank highway on Thursday, causing no injury, the army said.

The suspect fled the scene, prompting a manhunt by Israeli forces in the area.

“A Palestinian minor took out a knife and threw it at an IDF soldier at a checkpoint near the Route 443 highway. There were no injuries,” the army said.

Route 443 is one of two main highways that connect Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and runs through portions of the West Bank.

The highway and Jewish communities alongside it have been the scenes of multiple terror attacks in recent years.

In 2015, an Israeli soldier, Ziv Mizrahi, was stabbed to death by a Palestinian man at a gas station along the highway, before the assailant was shot dead by other Israeli troops.

In January 2016, a 23-year-old Israeli woman, Shlomit Krigman, was stabbed to death in the Beit Horon settlement, which lies just off the highway.

The roadway has also frequently been the site of rock and Molotov cocktail attacks by Palestinians targeting Israeli cars.