Hebron – A knife-wielding Palestinian woman attacked an Israeli soldier on guard near a sensitive West Bank holy site sacred to both Jews and Muslims on Saturday, wounding him and a Palestinian bystander before she was shot and killed by Israeli troops, the military said.
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The stabbing incident occurred in Hebron, a flashpoint during the last five months of violence, in which Palestinians have carried out near-daily attacks, mainly stabbings.
The soldier was lightly wounded. A Palestinian who intervened to try to stop the attacker was stabbed and more seriously wounded, and was taken to a hospital for treatment, the military said.
About 850 Israeli settlers live in heavily-guarded enclaves in Hebron, surrounded by tens of thousands of Palestinians. Much of the animosity in the biblical city is over a holy site known to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque.
Many of the Palestinian attackers over the past five months have been from Hebron.
Later Saturday, a Palestinian drove his vehicle into a group of police officers near Jerusalem injuring three of them lightly, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said. The officers opened fire wounding the three Palestinians in the vehicle, she said. Officers had been in pursuit after police spotters saw Palestinians from the West Bank cross through the security barrier and get inside the car.
The attacks since mid-September — stabbings, shootings and vehicular assaults — have killed 27 Israelis. At least 157 Palestinians, the majority of whom Israel says were attackers, have been killed by Israeli fire.
Israel says the ongoing violence is fueled by a campaign of incitement by Palestinian leaders that is compounded on social media sites that glorify attacks. Palestinians say it stems from frustration at nearly five decades of Israeli rule and dwindling hopes for gaining independence.
According to the UN and global “leaders”, Israel is not supposed to stop the terrorist until he/she kills a few Israelis. That way the gap between Israeli deaths and Palestinian deaths is narrowed.