Jenin: Palestinian teen caught with pipe bombs
IDF troops manning checkpoint near Jenin nab17-year-old Palestinian carrying two operational pipe bombs; eyewitnesses claimed Palestinian said, ‘I want to blow up on the soldiers’
IDF troops manning the Salem checkpoint, near Jenin, nabbed Saturday a 17-year-old Palestinian who was carrying two operational pipe bombs.
It is estimated that the teen planned to detonate the bombs at the checkpoint. Eyewitnesses claimed the Palestinian said, “I want to blow up on the soldiers.”
The soldiers were conducting a body search of the suspicious teen when the bombs fell from his coat. He was immediately arrested and taken in for questioning.
Border Guard sappers dispatched to the scene conducted a controlled-detonation of the bombs; no injuries or damage were reported in the incident.
IDF sources said the incident does not mark the first time Palestinians have attempted to attack soldiers at IDF checkpoints, saying that in the past terrorists arrived at an army checkpoint near Tul Karm and at a checkpoint near Bethlehem.
On October 10 another 17-year-old Palestinian, armed with a knife, attempted to stab soldiers at the Salem checkpoint; on October 9, 2003 a suicide bomber blew himself up at an IDF base in Tul Karm; two soldiers were injured - one moderately and the other lightly – in the incident.
The sources added that terror groups are attempting to carry out attacks in Israel, but as they are unable to infiltrate the country, they make due with ‘easy targets’ and attack checkpoints.
The fact that the construction of the security fence in the Jenin area has been completed is also making it hard on the terror organizations to carry out attacks in Israel, they said.
Late Friday IDF soldiers killed a Palestinian in the Hebron area Friday evening, after fearing the man was going to detonate an explosive device near them.
Shot over toy gun
IDF sources reported that soldiers engaged in a routine operation heard an explosion and later identified a Palestinian in the area acting suspiciously. The soldiers shot at the Palestinian and killed him.
Border Guard sappers were dispatched to the scene in order to check whether the Palestinian was carrying an explosive device and whether such device caused the explosion.
Later IDF sources said a bomb was found near the body of the Palestinian, apparently a Hamas member.
They said the bomb was apparently intended to harm soldiers. In a search of the area another bomb was found near a road, but it did not explode.
Earlier, IDF troops shot at a 17-year-old Palestinian in a village north of Ramallah after the boy appeared to shoot in the air using a handgun. Later it turned out the teen was using a toy gun.
The Palestinian sustained light leg injuries and was taken for treatment at an Israeli hospital.
