Stabbing attack foiled at Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron

Israeli security forces thwarted a stabbing attack at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the Judea city of Hebron, the Israel Police said on Sunday.

The suspect, a 37-year-old Palestinian woman who came to the holy site with her two children, aroused suspicion from security guards when she refused to open her bag during a routine inspection, police said.

“During the search of the bag, a police officer noticed a knife hidden inside a T-shirt,” according to the statement. “The suspect (37) was arrested along with one of her sons; the other son was detained.”

Following her arrest, the suspect confessed that she is married to a Hamas terrorist serving time in an Israeli prison and that she had intended to stab officers protecting Judaism’s second-holiest site.

Judea and Samaria saw a dramatic rise in Palestinian terrorist attacks in 2023 compared to the previous year, with shootings reaching their highest level since the Second Intifada of 2000-05, according to IDF data.

Between Oct. 7 and Jan. 15 alone, the Hatzalah Judea and Samaria rescue group recorded more than 2,600 terrorist attacks against Israelis in the region, including 760 cases of rock-throwing, 551 fire bombings, 12 attempted or successful stabbings and nine car rammings.

Also on Sunday, four people were wounded, including two seriously, in a terrorist car-ramming attack at the Nir Tzvi Junction near the central Israeli city of Lod. One of the victims was listed in critical condition.