Israel Detains Palestinian For Stabbing Plot

A Palestinian man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly attempting to stab an Israeli soldier near the West Bank city of Jenin, an Israeli army source has said.



"[Israeli] army forces detained a Palestinian youth who tried to stab a border guard near the city of Jenin," the source was "ed as saying by the Israeli radio.



According to the source, the Palestinian youth had approached a border patrol, prompting Israeli forces to arrest him.



"After searching him, a knife was found hidden in his clothes, after which he admitted he had planned to stab a soldier in the area," the source said.



The Palestinian Authority could not be reached for a comment.



Tension has mounted in East Jerusalem – and in the rest of the occupied West Bank – ever since the kidnap and murder of three Israeli settlers last summer and the subsequent abduction and murder of a Palestinian teenager.



Both incidents preceded a devastating Israeli military onslaught on the Gaza Strip in July and August that left over 2,160 Palestinians dead – the vast majority of them civilians – and some 11,000 injured.



Since then, several Israelis have been killed and injured in a spate of separate attacks by Palestinians – both in the occupied territories and in the self-proclaimed Jewish state itself.



Over 7,000 Palestinians are currently languishing in Israeli prisons, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners' Affairs.



www.aa.com.tr/en - İsrail