IDF police shot two Palestinian terrorists, one fatally, after separate stabbing attacks on security forces in Judea and Samaria on Saturday.
Two separate terror attacks occurred on Saturday in Judea and Samaria.
Israel Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said a Palestinian approached officers conducting a routine security check near Shechem (Nablus) and stabbed a soldier in the back with a knife, moderately wounding him. An officer nearby opened fire and killed the attacker, identified by doctors at Rafidia hospital in Nablus as 16-year-old Rafeq Ahmad al-Taj and later by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as 21-year-old Rafiq Taj.
Such an attack, the officer who shot the terrorist said, “lasts only a few seconds. There is no time to hesitate and one has to use precise judgment and act immediately,” as quoted in a statement issued by the Border Police.
Earlier in the day, a Palestinian terrorist was shot at a border crossing by Israeli troops after asking for a glass of water and then stabbing the soldier who turned to get it, the Israeli military explained. The attack occurred on Highway 443 near Beit Horon, a Jewish community in Judea and Samaria situated between Modiin and Jerusalem.
The soldier was treated at the scene and the terrorist was taken to a hospital with a light shoulder wound, the IDF said.
Channel 10 TV identified him as a 19-year-old from a nearby village and cited security officials as saying that he acted independently and not on behalf of any terrorist organization.
At the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared: “I would like to congratulate the soldiers and Border Policemen on their determined action this weekend which halted several terrorist acts. Our policy is zero tolerance for terrorism. Those who try to harm us – we will hurt them.”
By: United with Israel and AP
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