Terror wave: Palestinian infiltration of Tekoa thwarted, stabbing at Damascus Gate

Israel was struck by a series of apparent terrorist attacks on Sunday night as four men were stopped trying to infiltrate the West Bank settlement of Tekoa and a policeman was stabbed near the Old City of Jerusalem.

A terror attack was thwarted in the Tekoa settlement when a resident of the community killed a Palestinian, identified as 18-year-old Beit Lehem resident Muatssem Atallah, armed with a knife at the doorway of his home.

“There were no casualties in the incident and the army conducting searches in the community,” a spokesperson for Tekoa said, adding that the community was still in lockdown.

The chairman of the Tekoa community said that the resident was resourceful and his actions to halt a terrorist at the door to his home were inspiring and prevented a major disaster. Tekoa is located in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank.

A knife was found on the terrorist’s body. The settlement was placed in lockdown and security forces were searching the area for accomplices, the IDF said.

When shots were reported, residents were told to lock themselves indoors.

Israeli security forces at the scene of terror attack, at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)The Tekoa incident came not long after a stabbing attack at the Jerusalem Old City’s Damascus Gate.

Israel Police said that an assailant stabbed a Border Police officer when the suspect was approached for questioning after raising the officer’s suspicion. The attacker was shot and transferred in critical condition for medical treatment, and the officer was evacuated to Hadassah Har Hatzofim hospital in moderate condition.

Earlier in the day, IDF troops shot a Palestinian man who tried to cross the West Bank security barrier into Israel near the Palestinian city of Tulkarm.

The troops shot at the man in accordance with standard procedure for dealing with suspicious persons, the IDF said. The suspect was evacuated by helicopter to Sheba Tel Hashomer Hospital to receive medical attention.

The terrorist attacks on Sunday were the latest in the recent wave of attacks that has see 18 Israelis killed along with violent riots on the Temple Mount. Israeli security forces had only just captured the suspects in Thursday night’s deadly ax attack in Elad that left three dead and four injured.

According to the investigation into Thursday night’s attack in Elad, one of the terrorists left behind a will saying that he was motivated by the recent unrest on the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

According to a senior officer in the Central Command, though the terrorists have been apprehended, the IDF is prepared for additional copycat attacks by illegal workers. And while thousands of troops have been sent as reinforcements to the West Bank and Seam Line area, “we don’t have enough troops to hermetically protect 430 kilometers of fence,” Bar-Lev said.

There are some 150,000 Palestinians who enter Israel legally from the West Bank and according to some estimates, another 30,000 cross through holes in the West Bank fence each day to work.

With forces there, Bar-Lev said that “we have thwarted quite a few attacks.” Nevertheless, “anyone who goes through the fence is a potential terrorist.”

Attacks since March have claimed 19 Israeli lives and have wounded dozens more.

In data released by the Shin Bet (Israel security agency), 190 attacks in March increased to 268 in April; with 217 in the West Bank, 42 in Jerusalem and Israel and 9 from the Gaza Strip. The majority of March attacks also took place in the West Bank.

Despite many calls for the targeted assassination of Sinwar to stem the tide of the attacks, the military and government officials do not recommend it. The IDF is said to have told the political echelon to continue differentiating between the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Anna Ahronheim contributed to this story.

This is a developing story.