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Israeli woman killed in West Bank stabbing

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A 24-year-old Israeli woman was killed yesterday, having been stabbed by a Palestinian near a mini-market in a West Bank settlement.

The attack happened in the Beit Horon community, which is situated alongside the 443 motorway between Jerusalem and Modi’in. Two attackers, named as 23-year-old Ibrahim Al’an and 17-year-old Hassin Abu Gush, both from nearby villages, are thought to have infiltrated Beit Horon by scaling a fence. They stabbed two women, including 24-year-old Shlomit Krigman who succumbed to her wounds this morning. Another woman in her 50s was moderately wounded. The assailants attempted to enter a mini-market, but were stopped by a local resident, who fended them off with a shopping trolley. A security guard then arrived on the scene and shot both the attackers dead. Three suspected pipe bombs were later found during a sweep of the area, indicating a well-planned attack.

Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin issued a statement saying “My thoughts and prayers” are with the victims and that “We will continue to fight against terrorism and the incitement which drives it. In the face of terror, we choose life.”

Yesterday’s stabbing was the latest in near-daily attacks carried out by Palestinians since October, resulting in the deaths of at least 28 Israelis. It was the third time within a week that terrorists had struck within a settlement community. Last Sunday, mother-of-six Dafna Meir was stabbed to death at the entrance to her home in Otniel. The following day, a pregnant woman, Michal Froman was stabbed and moderately wounded in Tekoa.

Also yesterday, the Shin Bet security agency announced that 18-year-old Palestinian twin sisters Diana and Nadia Hawilah were arrested near Tulkarm, having planned to carry out a bombing. They had amassed fertilisers and pipe bombs in their home and studied how to use explosives online. The Shin Bet said that the women did not belong to a terror group, but that “the internet is increasingly used to make weapons with the goal of committing terror attacks.”