IDF thwarts stabbing attack in Tekoa area

Israel Defense Forces troops foiled a Palestinian stabbing attack in the Tekoa area in the Gush Etzion region of Judea on Monday.

Soldiers from the Tabor Battalion of the Etzion Brigade shot and killed a terrorist who attempted to stab them while they were guarding a military position near the Arab town of Taqua, located near the Israeli community of Tekoa.

The 16-year-old terrorist was identified as Rani Yasser Chalaf a-Sha’ar from Taqua.

No Israelis were injured in the attack. Clashes broke out after residents who tried to reach the terrorist passed by and were sprayed with tear gas by Israeli forces.

Overnight Sunday, Israeli security forces uncovered a tunnel shaft rigged with explosive charges in the Jenin refugee camp as 19 Palestinians were arrested in counterterror operations across Judea and Samaria.

Palestinians booby-trapped the shaft with the intent of harming soldiers, the Israel Defense Forces said. Two wanted terrorists were arrested inside the camp, and weapons were confiscated.

In the village of Yamun, near Jenin, a wanted suspect shot at Israeli forces, who then killed him.

Other arrests were made in Shechem (Nablus) and the nearby Balata and Askar refugee camps, where soldiers confiscated military equipment, according to the IDF.

Weapons were also seized in raids in the village of Azzun, east of Qalqilya, and in the northeastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Kafr Aqab, which is situated beyond the Judea and Samaria security barrier.

No Israeli personnel were injured during the overnight operations.

Since Oct. 7, Israel has arrested more than 2,960 wanted individuals in Judea and Samaria, of whom more than 1,350 are associated with Hamas.