A 16-year-old Palestinian arrested over the weekend while attempting to infiltrate the Jewish community of Neve Daniel in the Gush Etzion region of Judea had planned to stab a soldier, the Israel Police said on Tuesday.
The teenager, a resident of Nahalin near Bethlehem, was detained on Saturday night by a civilian security coordinator and Israel Defense Forces soldiers after approaching Neve Daniel, police said.
The suspect initially told security personnel he had been looking for water, but admitted during questioning that he had intended to attack the first IDF soldier he encountered and become a “martyr,” according to the statement. The teenager was said to have told interrogators that he “kissed his mother’s hand” before leaving home to carry out the assault.
Investigators said the suspect on Monday retraced the route he had taken and led officers to a kitchen knife he had discarded beneath a bench in the area.
The suspect remains in custody, with police saying they would request an extension of his remand during the investigation.
Palestinian terrorists targeted Israeli Jews in Judea and Samaria at least 5,051 times in 2025, according to figures published by the Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) NGO.
The figures do not include the hundreds of violent attacks on Israeli security personnel occurring during ongoing counter-terrorism operations in Arab towns under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
Twenty-four Israelis were murdered in Judea and Samaria in 2025, and more than 400 others were wounded, per the group’s annual report.
The findings, which were cross-checked against official data from Israeli security agencies, included 3,299 instances of rock-throwing, 655 attempts to blind drivers with laser pointers, 458 firebomb attacks, 286 attacks involving explosives and 19 shootings.
