Palestinian with knife arrested at West Bank checkpoint
Security forces search suspicious youth at Rachel’s Crossing near Bethlehem, find weapon hidden under his shirt
A Palestinian youth was caught with a knife at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Wednesday afternoon.
The young man arrived at the Rachel’s Crossing checkpoint into Jerusalem near Rachel’s Tomb, where his behavior raised suspicion among security personnel.
A search of the youth uncovered a knife hidden under his shirt.
He was taken in for questioning.
Israel has in the past year been plagued by a wave of so-called “lone wolf” Palestinian terror attacks. The spate of car-ramming, stabbing, shooting and bombing attacks have claimed the lives of 35 Israelis and four foreign nationals since October 2015. Over 200 Palestinians have also been killed in the past year, with the Israeli army saying that most of those killed were attackers or involved in clashes with the military.
The violence had dramatically subsided in recent months.
The Times of Israel Community.