An IDF soldier was stabbed by two assailants at a hitch-hiking stop in Gush Etzion on Tuesday, the same day that Israeli police arrested multiple young Palestinians who were found to be carrying weapons, as well as high-ranking members of major terrorist groups. The terrorists who stabbed the Israeli were killed.
Hours later ,n attempted stabbing attack at a junction at the entrance to Tel Rumeida in Hebron was thwarted. The attacker tried to stab a soldier on duty and was shot dead.
Police arrested two young Palestinian women in the morning after two large knives were found in their backpacks.
The women approached the security checkpoint ahead to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, and were asked to hand over their bags for inspection. They refused and began yelling, "We came to free Palestine." Later, a Jerusalem policeman stopped two Palestinians aged 16 and 17 who were later found to be carrying an axe and knife in their bags.
A high-ranking member of Islamic Jihad, Tair Jaradat, 29, was also arrested Monday night. Sa'adi had previously opened fire on IDF forces, alongside his enterprising bomb making and gun trading business. Several weapons were found at the two's hideout, including: M-16 rifles, handguns, stun grenades, night vision goggles, handgun fittings, and copious amounts of ammunition and explosives.
IDF forces reportedly surrounded Sa'adi's home earlier this month, initiating a protocol that included firing a missile at the house and calling on him to surrender. Sa'adi managed to escape the arrest, and IDF troops arrested several of his cohorts, including Sa'adi's brother.
Later in the day about 200 Palestinian youths threw stones at soldiers in the village of Beit Anun. IDF and border police forces pushed the rioters into the village using riot control measures.
Israeli security forces encountered an unusual scene, as a group of hundreds of Palestinian youths stood five meters from the soldiers after respected village elders spoke to IDF officers with a request to receive the bodies of dead terrorists. The same youths who had been clashing with security forces mere minutes before the elders' arrival stood quietly.
Elisha Ben Kimon, Elior Levy, Yoav Zitun, Roy Yanovsky contributed to this article.