IDF soldiers on Thursday night detained a wanted Palestinian terror suspect who was allegedly recruited by al-Qaeda in order to operate in the West Bank area.
The man was arrested in the village of Hizma, north of Jerusalem, and was taken into interrogation by security forces, who are investigating whether he planned to carry out terror attacks on behalf of the terror organization or build an al-Qaeda infrastructure in the West Bank.
On Friday afternoon, an IDF soldier was lightly wounded by stoned hurled by Palestinians toward IDF troops patrolling near the West Bank village of Beit Omar, south of Bethlehem. The soldier was medically treated on site.
The soldiers retaliated with crowd-dispersal means toward the stone throwers.
Also Friday, Palestinians opened fire at farmers working near Kibbutz Nir Oz, which is adjacent to the Gaza Strip security fence.
The farmers, who were busy collecting potatoes in the field, stopped their work and fled the area in panic.
No injuries or damages were reported. A similar incident took place about a year ago.
The farmers were working in the field when they suddenly heard continuous bursts of gunfire. The terrified workers alerted the security forces. IDF soldiers arrived at the area within a few minutes, but the shooters had already fled the scene.
"They are getting very close to the border, it's only 300 meters (984 feet) away from where the workers are," Ziv Gefen, one of the people in charge of the kibbutz's security, told Ynet. "You can actually see them from the point they are shooting from."
'Kibbutz members unmoved'
The farmers said that they heard the gunshots hitting their tractors, but a later examination revealed that there was no damage.
Once the IDF soldiers were dispatched to the area, the place was secured with the assistance of the kibbutz's security people, and the workers returned to the field to complete their work.
"We are no under pressure to evacuate everything that is left. We are not leaving potatoes in the field. We placed a truck far away from the field because the driver is afraid. We all walk around with weapons here," Gefen explained.
He added that the kibbutz members were "not very moved" by the incident. He himself had witnessed at least six similar incidents.
Anat Barshkovsky contributed to the report
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