Soldiers arrest knife-carrying Palestinian at checkpoint

During routine inspection at Hawara, security forces discover large blade; suspect taken in for questioning

By Judah Ari Gross 4 January 2016, 1:19 pm

Edit

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

Illustrative. Israeli security forces gather at the site of a reported stabbing attack near the Hawara checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, on December 27, 2015. (AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)

IDF soldiers arrested a Palestinian man in Hawara, south of the West Bank city of Nablus, Monday after a security inspection revealed that he was carrying a large kitchen knife, the IDF said.

The man arrived at the Hawara security checkpoint late in the morning. As part of the routine inspection, soldiers on site approached him and patted him down. During the check, they found the chef’s knife.

It was not immediately clear if the Palestinian was planning to carry out an attack with the blade, but he was arrested and handed over to security forces for further questioning.

The Hawara Junction and the adjacent checkpoint have been flashpoints for Palestinian terror attacks since the start of the violence that has rocked Israel since mid-September.

https://www.facebook.com/RamallahCityOfficialPage/photos/pcb.957746724299768/957746584299782/?type=3&theater

Two Palestinians tried to stab an Israeli soldier in the village last month, but were shot and killed by other troops on scene.

A day earlier, an Israeli soldier was lightly hurt in a car-ramming attack at the nearby checkpoint. The attacker was shot at the scene and later died of his wounds in hospital in Nablus.

Sue Surkes contributed to this report.