Palestinian woman throws acid on soldier at Hawara checkpoint
Nablus woman trying to cross into Israel hurls acidic substance at soldier's face, escapes. Soldier taken to hospital in mild condition
An Israel Defense Forces soldier stationed at the Hawara checkpoint, south of the West Bank city of Nablus, sustained mild facial injuries on Wednesday, after a Palestinian woman poured an acidic substance in his face.
The soldier was taken to the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva for treatment.
The woman arrived at the Hawara checkpoint and attempted to cross into Israel using the humanitarian aid lane, which is meant for emergencies and therefore has no security checks. Upon approaching the soldier manning the lane, she threw the acid at his face and then ran back towards Nablus.
IDF forces are exercise lenience in all checkpoints, as part of the military's efforts to ease the Palestinian population's suffering during the month of Ramadan. Military sources said Wednesday that is was unfortunate that the Palestinians were making cynical use of the IDF's attempts to relieve the situation.
Hawara checkpoint has been the scene of many arrests in which Palestinians were apprehended trying to smuggle weapons and explosives into Israel.
The past two months have seen a 16-year-old boy arrested with two pipe bombs and a knife, and an 18-year old Palestinian arrested after a search of his person yielded six pipe bombs, a rifle magazine and gun powder.
