BICOM

The West Bank city of Hebron was once again the scene of knife attacks on Israelis yesterday. Meanwhile, an Israeli woman was lightly wounded in the first incident of the current wave of violence in the southernmost city of Eilat.

The woman was attacked in an Eilat street yesterday evening. Police soon arrived on the scene and later arrested an Arab teenager who they suspect carried out the stabbing for nationalistic reasons. The victim was rushed to hospital for treatment. Situated at Israel’s southern tip, Eilat is a resort city often considered somewhat removed from tensions elsewhere in the country.

Meanwhile, Hebron remained the epicentre of yesterday’s violence. Stabbings have been carried out in the West Bank city on an almost daily basis during the last week. Yesterday morning, an infantry soldier from the Kfir Brigade was stabbed in the face and lightly wounded. The attacker, 22-year-old Hebron resident Mahadi al-Muhatseb then attempted to stab a border policeman who shot and killed al-Muhatseb. Later in the day, in the Beit Hadassah area of Hebron, another Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces, after attempting to stab a Givati infantry soldier.

Since the beginning of the month, there have been eight stabbings in Hebron which have caused injury, while a further six knife attacks have been thwarted. In total, twelve Israelis have been killed in the month-long violence. With the attacks shifting focus to Hebron and the nearby Gush Etzion region of the West Bank during the past week, the IDF is reportedly adopting new measures to reduce the risk of attacks. Palestinian males aged between 15 and 25 will apparently not be allowed into the Jewish neighbourhood of Hebron unless they live in the area.

Also yesterday, an Israeli woman suffered facial wounds and was hospitalized after her car was pelted with rocks near the central city of Ramle, which is home to both Jews and Arabs.