IDF arrests Palestinian for throwing hammer at Israeli car

The April attack left an Israeli man lightly injured.

By ANNA AHRONHEIM
IDF soldier handcuffs a man (photo credit: REUTERS)
IDF soldier handcuffs a man
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A Palestinian man suspected of throwing a hammer at an Israeli vehicle in the West Bank in April was arrested by Israeli security forces overnight, the IDF announced on Thursday.
Ahmad Ibrahim Suleiman Nasrallah faces a “serious indictment” for his actions, which lightly wounded a 45-year-old Israeli driver after the hammer he threw smashed the man’s windshield near the West Bank settlement of Tekoa.
Nasrallah is known to security forces and was released from an Israeli prison in May 2018.
In addition, the IDF said that it had arrested a cell of Palestinians who threw Molotov cocktails towards the West Bank settlement of Migdal Oz on May 4.
“After an intelligence effort by the IDF and the Israel Police, we carried out an arrest operation during which we arrested three suspects in throwing Molotov cocktails towards the settlement,” Lt.-Col. Nir Ifergan, the commander of the Duchifat Battalion, was quoted as saying. “The battalion is working day and night to create security for the residents of the sector... The commanders and the troops understand very well the importance of closing the circle for every attack, and at the end of the activity all the members of the cell were arrested.”
According to a report by the Shin Bet (Israel security agency), April saw a “significant” drop in the number of attacks compared to the previous month, with 100 attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem compared to 125 in March.
The security agency said that the attacks included 70 firebombs, 21 pipe bombs, four cases of arson, three stabbing attacks and two shooting attacks. The Shin Bet does not report on rocks thrown at Israelis driving on West Bank roads. There were no Israeli casualties.
With terrorist attacks continuing in the West Bank, the IDF arrested over 1,000 Palestinians in the first half of 2019 and confiscated 270 illegal weapons.
Israeli security forces – including the IDF, police and Shin Bet intelligence agency – carry out near nightly raids in the West Bank in an attempt to arrest Palestinians suspected of violence against Israelis.
The numbers released by military, while slightly lower than the previous year of 3,000 arrests, is significantly lower than numbers released in December by the Palestine Prisoners’ Center, which said that 5,700 Palestinians were arrested by troops in 2018, including 980 children.