A day after the fatal stabbing of a soldier at the Kalandiya crossing north of Jerusalem by a Palestinian, a 17-year-old Palestinian teenage girl was arrested by IDF troops as she attempted to stab a soldier in Hebron late Friday afternoon.
The girl approached the soldier, pulled out a knife and tried to stab him. The soldier overpowered the girl who was arrested and transferred for interrogation.
Meanwhile, a 15-year-old Palestinian teenager was caught at the Hawara checkpoint, south of Nablus, in possession of two pipe bombs. In another incident, a 19-year old Palestinian was caught with a knife at the same checkpoint.
The 15 year-old arrived at the checkpoint wearing a jacket, and aroused the suspicions of soldiers -paratroopers and the members of the Checkpoints Unit -who were manning the checkpoint.
Paratrooper Anton Sayumin told Ynet: "In the course of our guard duty, one of the soldiers standing on watch identified a suspicious teenager advancing towards the checkpoint from the direction of Nablus. He looked as if was playing with his stomach, and something was falling out. The soldier on watch reported this. We waited for him to advance closer, before I shouted towards him to stop and to take off the jacket. Underneath the jacket, he had a black bag with suspicious objects inside. I asked him what they were, and he answered that he didn't know. I told him to place the bag at a distance, and he complied."
"During the investigation, he said he was asked to smuggle the devices through the checkpoint. He was told that since he was young, and had no identifying documents, the soldiers wouldn't check him thoroughly," reported Sayumin.
'Cynical use of children' (Photo: AP)
"This is nonsense," added the checkpoint's commander. "Teenagers are checked the same as adults."
Pipe bombs
Army sappers were called in, who found that the devices were two pipe bombs containing explosives, nails, and an ignition fuse."
An hour later, a 19 year-old Palestinian youth arrived at the same checkpoint carrying a knife. "The youth passed through the first checkpoint, and he also aroused our suspicions. A knife was found hidden in his trousers. It's still not clear whether he planned on stabbing one of the soldiers," said Sayumin. The youth has been handed over to security forces for questioning.
"Time after time, we have seen attempted smuggling of weapons through the Hawara checkpoint in recent weeks, and the cynical use made of teenagers," said Sayumin.
Meanwhile, a police officer has suffered a light injury to his face by a stone thrown in east Jerusalem.
In the course of a check of an Arab youth, Arabs gathered and began throwing stones at police. The officer received medical treatment on the spot by the Magen David Adom, and has been taken to hospital in Jerusalem.