Terror attack thwarted near West Bank settlement

An Israeli citizen shot dead a Palestinian man who attempted to stab people standing at a hitchhikers station near the West Bank settlement of Shiloh on Monday evening.

The Magen David Adom emergency services, there were no Israeli casualties in the incident. A 20-centimeter (7.5-inch) knife was found on the terrorist's body, in addition to the knife he used to try and stab the citizens.

An initial IDF inquiry revealed that the Palestinian ran towards the hitchhikers' station in an attempt to stab two citizens standing there. One of the civilians pulled out his personal weapon, fired at the terrorist and killed him.

A police sapper examined the terrorist's body in order to rule out the presence of explosive devices.

Senior IDF officers told Ynet that the citizens acted as expected during the incident.

"An initial investigation revealed that the terrorist arrived in order to stab civilians. A citizen, believed to be a residents of (the settlement of) Ofra, shot the terrorist and killed him. Another knife was found on the terrorist's body in addition to the one he held as he tried to stab the citizens."

'Terrorist seemed nervous'

Colonel (res.) Moti Yogev, deputy mayor of the Binyamin Regional Council, told Ynet about the chain of events.

"An Ofra resident, in his thirties, returned from his workplace in (the settlement of) Itamar, got off at the Shiloh hitchhikers' station, where a 16-year-old boy was standing. Shortly afterwards, they were approached by the terrorist, who began talking to them in broken English, mixed with Hebrew and Arabic. He seemed nervous, put his hand into his shirt between the buttons, pulled out a knife and shouted, 'Allah Akbar' (God is great).

"The Ofra resident pulled out his weapon, fired two bullets, and the terrorist fell on the floor. Security and medical forces were dispatched to the area and tended to the terrorist, but eventually proclaimed him dead."

According to Yogev, only 10 days ago two Arabs attempted to stab civilians at the same junction, but fled as an IDF patrol passed by.

MDA paramedic Ilan Klein, who arrived at the scene of the incident, told Ynet, "We received a report of gunshots in the Shiloh Junction area. When we arrived, we saw a terrorist lying near the hitchhikers' station, with several bullet holes in his body and a 20-centimter knife near his body.

"The young man who shot the terrorist said that he had approached them in a bid to stab them, with his knife pulled out. When he noticed the man, he fired at him."

The paramedic added that two people were standing at the hitchhikers' station – a 30-year-old man who shot the terrorist and a 15-year-old boy.

The security forces' alert level across the country has been raised recently as Hizbullah marked 40 days since the assassination of its top commander Imad Mugniyah in Damascus.

During a memorial held in Beirut last week, the organization's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said, "The Israelis are worried – let them remain that way. They must know that whoever murdered our commander will be punished."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak noted recently that Hizbullah may still carry out a terror attack to avenge Mugniyah's death. "We must be prepared and we are taking the proper measures," he said.

Meital Yasur-Beit Or contributed to this report