Ya'alon: Recent terror attacks should not raise fears of 3rd intifada

Defense Minister says murder of 2 IDF soldiers in separate attacks does not raise alarms over violent uprising in West Bank; says IDF "will not rest until we catch the last terrorist involved in these attacks."

By YAAKOV LAPPIN, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon 370 (photo credit: Ariel Hermoni, Defense Ministry spokesman)
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon 370
(photo credit: Ariel Hermoni, Defense Ministry spokesman)
The deadly terror attacks that claimed the lives of two IDF soldiers in recent days do not constitute the start of a third intifada, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Tuesday, as a relatively quiet day passed over Hebron.
The Palestinian sniper who killed an IDF soldier this week in Hebron remains at large, and there has been no breakthrough in attempts to capture him, a senior army source said.
On Tuesday evening, a Molotov cocktail was hurled at an army vehicle traveling near the settlement of Tekoa, southeast of Bethlehem. There were no injuries in the attack.
Speaking from the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Ya’alon said the defense establishment was “looking at the current period and we see no reason for any kind of alarm, or signs of an intifada. There is no connection between the two terror attacks, and we believe that the IDF will succeed in calming the situation on the ground.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Ya’alon hosted haredi soldiers and volunteers at the Defense Ministry.
“We will not rest until we catch the last terrorist involved in these attacks,” the defense minister vowed.
Israel must “continue to hold the sword, despite being a peace-seeking people,” he added.
Security forces arrested six Palestinian security suspects overnight Tuesday, launching raids in Deir Asita, southeast of Kalkilya, where two wanted men were arrested, and in Abud, northwest of Ramallah, where four suspects were taken in for questioning.
Early on Tuesday, the IDF accompanied some 1,200 Israeli pilgrims who arrived at Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus to pray. On their way out of Nablus, the Israeli convoy was targeted by rock throwers, but there were no injuries or damages.