IDF reservist soldiers on shot dead three Palestinians as they tried to carry out a stabbing attack near the junction of the Etzion settlement bloc in the West Bank Thursday night.
“Three attackers, armed with knives, attempted to stab soldiers guarding the Gush Etzion junction,” the IDF said in a statement, and confirmed that all three attackers had been killed. No one else was wounded in the incident.
Less than two hours later, further south, a fourth Palestinian attempted another stabbing attack. He approached a group of soldiers at the Beit Anoun Junction outside of Hebron and attempted to stab one of them, the IDF said. As he was trying to attack the soldier, the other forces on the scene shot and killed him, the IDF said.
The Walla news website said that the soldiers in the Etzion Bloc junction incident had received a tip-off about an imminent attack shortly before the trio approached. Other Hebrew media reports said the three were all members of the Kawasbeh family, and that they had sought to “avenge” the death of a relative who was buried on Wednesday, having been killed in the course of a terror attack in Israel.
Initial reports suggested that the terrorists arrived by foot, wearing black jackets, from the nearby Palestinian village of Beit Fajjar. They were spotted from an observation post and the information was relayed to the reservists near the junction.
The soldiers called on the three to undergo a security check; one drew a knife, and was immediately shot. The two others then pulled out knives, and were also shot. Palestinians named the assailants as Ala Ayid Kawasbeh, Mahand Kawasbeh and Ahmad Shakar Kawasbeh. Read more at Times of Israel.
{Matzav.com Israel}
