BICOM

A 21-year-old Palestinian man has been arrested on suspicion of having attacked a security guard with an axe last week in the West Bank city of Ma’aleh Adumim, leaving the victim critically wounded.

47-year-old Tzvika Cohen remains in a critical condition in a Jerusalem hospital, after a fellow worker at Ma’aleh Adumim’s shopping centre set upon him late Thursday night. Police and medics who arrived at the scene found Cohen having suffered multiple stab wounds. Security forces launched a manhunt for the assailant but only on Saturday night arrested Sa’adi Ali Abu Hamed, 21, of Azzariyeh, a village outside of Jerusalem, following a tip-off from his uncle. Police officials speculated that the tip off happened due to the intense pressure that the security forces had applied on the village in the aftermath of the attack as well as from the fear that the family home would be demolished. Graphic footage of the attack from a security camera was circulated in the Israeli media over the weekend. Channel Ten’s website reported that Abu Hammad was well-acquainted with his victim and that the two men had often sat down over a cup of coffee after work at the mall.

Near-daily Palestinian attacks have killed at least 31 Israelis since the current wave of violence began at the start of October. Until the attack on Cohen, there had been no recorded attacks in Ma’aleh Adumim, although police discovered and neutralised a car bomb there in October.

Meanwhile, on Saturday night, suspected Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a school playground in the West Bank settlement of Beit El. The shots were apparently fired from the adjacent Palestinian community of Jalazoun. Nobody was hurt in the incident. However, on Friday at a checkpoint near Beit El, a 17-year-old Palestinian attempted to stab an Israeli soldier and was shot dead. Yesterday, clashes between Israeli security personnel and local Palestinians took place in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Isawiyah and the town of El Khader, near Bethlehem.

Meanwhile, Palestinian news sources report that at least five Hamas operatives were injured on Saturday night after a tunnel they were digging in Zitan, near Gaza City collapsed. It is the latest indication that Hamas is rebuilding the complex tunnel network which was used to attack Israeli targets during Operation Protective Edge in 2014.