Palestinian with concealed knife arrested near Hebron
Police say security forces detain West Bank resident after he was seen discarding blade hidden in his sock before security check
A Palestinian man was arrested Thursday approaching an IDF roadblock near the West Bank city of Hebron with a concealed knife, police said in a statement.
When Border Police officers called on the man to stop for a security check, he discarded a knife he was carrying in his sock, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.
The suspect, a resident of a nearby Palestinian village said to be in his 30s, was taken in for questioning.
On Wednesday, a Palestinian woman was arrested at a West Bank checkpoint, apparently while on her way to carry out a stabbing attack in Jerusalem.
Border police officers who searched the 36-year-old at a crossing near Bethlehem found the weapon during a search. Later, she reportedly told investigators of her plans to carry out a stabbing attack in the capital.
Nobody was injured in either incident, which come less than two weeks after three Palestinian men carried out an attack in the Old City of Jerusalem that killed a Border Police officer, 23-year-old Hadas Malka.
Since September 2015, some 43 Israelis, two visiting Americans, an Eritrean national, a Palestinian man and a British student have been killed in stabbing, shooting and vehicular attacks by Palestinian assailants. In that time, more than 270 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, a majority of them attackers, according to authorities.
The spate of Palestinian attacks that began in October 2015 was dubbed the “lone wolf” intifada, as many of the attacks were carried out by individuals who were not connected to any terror group. Israeli security officials say that many of the attacks, particularly those that are carried out by women, were attempts at suicide by soldier.
The Israeli government has blamed the terror activity on incitement by Palestinian political and religious leaders compounded on social media sites that glorify violence and encourage attacks.
Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.
