IDF: Palestinian tries to stab soldiers in Hebron, is shot dead
No Israeli troops injured in attempted attack at Jewish building in restive West Bank city; woman with a knife nabbed by troops near same spot hours later
Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man as he tried to stab them in the West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday, the military said.
No servicemen were injured in the incident, the Israel Defense Forces said.
“IDF soldiers spotted the terrorist armed with a knife as he ran toward them. The soldiers pushed the terrorist back as he tried to run into a nearby civilian building. The soldiers shot the terrorist, thwarting the attack, and he was killed,” the military said.
The army also released a photograph of the knife the suspect had in his possession.
The suspect was identified by Palestinian officials as Yasser Fuzi Shuweiki.
The suspect, armed with a knife, entered the contentious Beit HaShalom building in Hebron, near the Kiryat Arba settlement.
A resident of the building, one of the few Jewish-owned structures inside the overwhelmingly Palestinian city, saw and called Israeli security forces to the scene, according to reports from the scene.
A video filmed at the scene showed the attacker lying on the ground in the entrance hall of the building with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the chest.
The knife was seen on the ground several feet away from him.
Later on Tuesday, Israeli troops arrested a Palestinian woman who approached them outside Beit HaShalom after she was found in possession of a knife.
“A Palestinian woman walked up to the military post in Hebron near the attempted stabbing attack this afternoon. She aroused the suspicion of IDF troops at the location. After a search of her body, the soldiers found a knife in her possession,” the army said.
“The suspect was arrested and handed over to security forces for questioning.”
Israeli defense officials have warned that the coming months may see an escalation in violence in the already restive West Bank and Gaza Strip, in light of added pressure from the upcoming Israeli elections, US President Donald Trump’s plans to announce his proposal for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, and ongoing struggles between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
On Monday night, unidentified gunmen opened fire at an Israeli vehicle in the northern West Bank.
There were no casualties in the attack near the settlement of Rehelim, south of Nablus, but damage was caused to the vehicle. IDF soldiers were searching the area for the perpetrators.
Last week two Israeli soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously, in what the army said was a car-ramming attack northwest of Ramallah. Troops fired on the three occupants of the vehicle, killing two and wounding the third.
Palestinian residents of a nearby village denied it was a deliberate attack and said it was an accident. The Israeli military said the three young Palestinian men had earlier thrown firebombs at a nearby highway.
And early Sunday a suspected Palestinian burglar was shot dead by an Israeli policeman north of Jericho while attempting to run a checkpoint.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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