Palestinian caught with knife in Hebron, says he planned attack

Young man arrested after raising suspicions of border policemen near Tomb of Patriarchs; soldiers fire towards Palestinian rock thrower south of Bethlehem

A knife found on the person of a 23-year-old Palestinian in Hebron on October 28, 2016 (Courtesy Border Police)
A knife found on the person of a 23-year-old Palestinian in Hebron on October 28, 2016 (Courtesy Border Police)

A 23-year-old Palestinian was arrested in Hebron near the Tomb of the Patriarchs Friday after being caught with a knife, and told security officials he had intended to carry out a stabbing attack.

The man was taken in for questioning after security forces at a checkpoint, who suspected his behavior, searched him and found the knife on his person. He told border police officers he had wanted to execute an attack.

In a statement Border Police said officers’ alertness “may have prevented a stabbing attack against them or against worshipers.”

Earlier IDF troops in the West Bank’s Etzion settlement bloc fired at a Palestinian after he hurled rocks at a military vehicle, the army said.

The attacker was apparently unharmed. He escaped and soldiers were searching the area for him.

The army said soldiers first fired warning shots as they attempted to apprehend the suspect, then fired towards him when he failed to comply.

In East Jerusalem a border police force was accosted by several local residents, according to Ynet News. The incident ended without any casualties.

On Wednesday two Palestinian children carrying knives were detained outside the West Bank settlement of Migdal Oz, south of Jerusalem.

The army said the children “admitted to have been sent, armed with knives, in order to carry out a terror attack.”

IDF spokesperson Peter Lerner said the pair were just eight years old.

“When two, eight-year-old children are sent on a mission to attack Israeli civilians it is clear that the hateful rhetoric that echoes within Palestinian society abuses the most vulnerable of minds,” he said.

On Sunday, Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian man in the leg with a rubber bullet as he approached the fence surrounding the Jewish settlement of Beit El, north of Ramallah in the West Bank.

The forces, who were guarding the area, had spotted three men outside Beit El. In order to “deter the suspects” the soldiers opened fire with rubber bullets, striking one of the men, an army spokesperson said.

The suspects then fled the scene, the army said. The soldiers did not pursue them.

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