Palestinian hurls explosive at IDF soldiers, is shot — army

A Palestinian man threw an explosive device at Israeli soldiers in the West Bank on Wednesday, prompting troops to open fire at the suspect, critically injuring him, the military said.

The army said a group of dozens of Palestinians was making its way toward troops at the Evyatar illegal outpost when one charged at them and threw a suspicious object which exploded.

An IDF soldier fired first in the air and then toward the suspect, who was hit and critically injured.

There were no Israeli casualties, the army said.

The area around Beita has seen repeated clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians in recent weeks following the establishment of a new West Bank outpost known as Evyatar on land close to the town. Palestinians have hurled stones at troops and ignited swathes of terrain, while Israeli soldiers have responded with riot dispersal means and live bullets.

Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire during different clashes between Beita residents and Israeli forces in recent days.

Also Wednesday, Israeli Border Police arrested a Palestinian woman in possession of a knife at the entrance to Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs.

The woman aroused the suspicion of officers outside the West Bank holy site, and they proceeded to carry out an arrest according to protocol, during which the woman threw her knife at the ground upon command.

No one was injured in the incident, Border Police said.

Hours earlier, a female Palestinian assailant attempted to commit a car-ramming and stabbing attack near the central West Bank Palestinian town of Hizme before being shot and killed. The military noted that there were no Israeli casualties and that the attacker had been “neutralized.”

The official PA news agency Wafa identified the woman as Mai Afaneh, 29, from the town of Abu Dis, which is east of Jerusalem.

Reports said Afaneh had written on Facebook hours before the attack: “I don’t have much time left in life.”

Photos from the scene of the suspected attempted ramming and stabbing attack near Hizma in the West Bank pic.twitter.com/lvi9hWbtPe

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 16, 2021

On Saturday, a Palestinian woman was shot dead after she ran at guards manning a West Bank crossing brandishing a knife and ignored multiple calls to halt, police said at the time.

The day before that, a Palestinian teen was killed during clashes with Israel Defense Force soldiers in the northern West Bank.

Last Thursday, two officers in the Palestinian Authority’s security service were shot dead in an exchange of fire with Israeli forces operating in the northern West Bank. A third Palestinian, a suspected member of the Islamic Jihad terror group who was the target of an Israeli arrest operation, was also killed in the firefight.

Reports indicated two Palestinian Military Intelligence officers on guard duty noticed the arrest operation taking place, with the undercover Israeli forces operating out of a civilian vehicle, and chose to engage, likely not realizing that it was an Israeli raid.