BICOM

A 40-year-old Israeli woman was moderately wounded yesterday, having been stabbed by a Palestinian assailant outside a supermarket in the West Bank. Meanwhile, a border policeman was lightly wounded this morning in a stabbing near Hebron.

Yesterday’s attack took place near the Rami Levy supermarket at the Gush Etzion junction yesterday afternoon. The woman was conscious when paramedics arrived on the scene and was soon evacuated to a Jerusalem hospital. The attacker fled from the scene, but was quickly located and apprehended by Israeli forces.

While there have been no significant attacks within Israel’s pre-1967 borders during the last week, the Gush Etzion junction has become a particular flashpoint. An Israeli soldier was stabbed in the head and moderately wounded while at the junction on Tuesday, while several other knife attacks have also taken place there. Last week, a Palestinian ploughed his car into waiting commuters at the junction, wounding two people. In light of the recent attacks at the Gush Etzion junction, the Jerusalem Post reports that the IDF is doubling the number of units patrolling the area.

This morning, a border policeman was lightly wounded, when a Palestinian man approached a security position near Hebron and attacked him with a knife. The assailant was shot and killed at the scene by officers. Yesterday, a Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli forces in Hebron itself, after he attempted to stab an Israeli soldier near to the Tomb of the Patriarchs. The Hebron area has also been a focal point for recent violence. A soldier was seriously wounded there on Monday and a Palestinian woman shot dead on Sunday after she attempted to stab soldiers at a checkpoint. Meanwhile, around 1,000 Palestinians clashed with IDF troops in Hebron on Tuesday.

Also yesterday, several dozen Palestinians hurled rocks and firebombs at Israeli forces near the border fence of the central Gaza Strip.  Israel Radio news says that IDF forces fired and wounded two Palestinians.