The IDF on Wednesday launched a search in the West Bank after a resident of the settlement of Yitzhar reported an attempted attack by a Palestinian wielding a knife.
Binyamin Cohen, 22, said he was standing at the junction close to the settlement when the incident occurred.
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Binyamin Cohen fends off his knife-wielding attacker at the junction close to the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, Feb. 24, 2021
(Photo: Screenshot)
"An Arab slowly approached me. I didn't understand what he wanted, and when he was a meter away he pulled out a knife," Cohen said.
"I started to scream, go a little crazy. I kicked the air and I saw that he jumped so I ran away and immediately called the police," he said.
CCTV footage of the West Bank attack
CTTV footage from the scene of the attack shows Cohen fending off a man waving a knife at close quarters before managing to flee his attacker.
The commander of the IDF's Samaria Regional Brigade, Col. Roi Zweig, arrived at the scene of the alleged attack, along with members of the Shin Bet security service who were there to question Cohen about the incident.
The IDF began searching the nearby Palestinian village of Huwara.
The area has long been the site of tensions between the residents of the village and the settlers of Yitzhar.