IDF arrests knife-wielding Palestinian at West Bank checkpoint

Meanwhile, the IDF arrested eight Palestinian security suspects across the West Bank overnight.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
IDF soldiers at a temporary checkpoint in the West Bank [File] (photo credit: REUTERS)
IDF soldiers at a temporary checkpoint in the West Bank [File]
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A Palestinian terrorist from Tul Karem arrived at the Nitzanei Oz crossing and produced a knife ahead of the planned stabbing of a soldier, the army said on Monday. Soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda battalion of the Kfir infantry brigade overpowered the attacker and transferred him for questioning by security forces.
Meanwhile, the IDF arrested eight Palestinian security suspects across the West Bank overnight between Sunday and Monday. Suspects include a Hamas member in Al-Bria, east of Ramallah.

Last week, the Shin Bet announced that security forces arrested several Palestinians during October and November on suspicion of planning to carry out a suicide bombing attack in the Tel Aviv region.

The suspects include a woman from Jenin, named by security forces as Yasmin Sha’aban, and four residents of the Tul Karem area.
“According to the plot that was hatched, Sha’aban was the designated suicide bomber. She was supposed to carry out the attack with an explosive vest hidden in her clothes while disguised as a pregnant Jewish woman,” the Shin Bet said.
Sha’aban had intended on receiving an entry permit into Israel for medical reasons, and exploit it to carry out a mass casualty bombing of Israeli civilians.
The suspects have confessed to planning the suicide bombing and other terrorist attacks, the Shin Bet said. The suspected bombers were in touch with an operative from Gaza, who helped instruct them on how to assemble explosives, according to the investigation.