BICOM

A Palestinian female attempted to stab an Israeli civilian near Hebron yesterday afternoon in the latest incident during the current wave of violence which has seen almost daily attacks on Israelis.

At around 2pm yesterday, the assailant attempted to stab a local resident in the Givat Avot neighbourhood but the intended victim resisted until a soldier arrived on the scene and shot the attacker. The assailant was taken to a Jerusalem hospital in a serious condition and named as 16-year-old Luma al-Bakari from Hebron.

At least 21 Israelis have been killed since the violence began at the start of October. Hebron, in the southern West Bank, has become a particular focal point for the attacks. On Friday, a Palestinian attempted to run over Israeli soldiers near at the Halhoul junction near Hebron, while in the city itself on Wednesday, two people were wounded in a knife attack. Also over the weekend, a Palestinian opened fire near the Gilboa checkpoint in the West Bank, but was shot and wounded before being apprehended by security forces.

Meanwhile, 36-year-old Palestinian Raad Halil was charged yesterday with two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, as he is thought to have carried out a stabbing spree last month outside an office block in south Tel Aviv in which two Israelis were killed. The prosecution said that Halil sought “to murder Jews with a knife” in order to become a martyr.

Also yesterday, the department for the investigation of police officers at Israel’s Justice Ministry announced that it is questioning the policeman who opened fire last month on two Palestinian teenage females who attacked two people in Jerusalem with scissors, wounding a 70-year-old man. The officer killed one and wounded the other attacker. The Justice Ministry said yesterday it was opening the investigation following “complaints to the effect that he [the policeman] shot the terrorist although she posed no danger.” The officer says he opened fire believing that the danger was not yet over.