Palestinian woman arrested while approaching settlement armed with a knife

Suspect spotted by soldiers walking up to Har Adar, outside Jerusalem; border guards arrest her, without gunfire, as she surrenders weapon

By Judah Ari Gross 18 October 2021, 1:59 pm

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

A knife that was in the possession of a Palestinian woman who was arrested as she approached the Har Adar settlement near Jerusalem on October 18, 2021. (Israel Police)

Border Police officers arrested a Palestinian woman armed with a knife as she approached an Israeli settlement outside Jerusalem on Monday, police said.

The suspect, whom Palestinian media identified as Samah Bakrawi, 37, from the village of Bayt Surik, was spotted by Israeli soldiers monitoring security cameras as she walked up to a locked gate into the Har Adar settlement.

Border Police officers were quickly sent to the scene and called for the woman to halt, according to police.

“The officers made the arrest without the use of gunfire as the suspect threw away the knife from her hand,” police said.

She was taken into custody for further questioning, according to a police statement.

Israeli security forces have in the past noted a phenomenon of Palestinians attempting so-called “suicide by cop” by acting in a suspicious or threatening manner with the hope that they will be shot dead by Israeli troops.