2 soldiers wounded in Palestinian stabbing attack near Hebron

Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two soldiers were wounded in a Palestinian stabbing attack between Hebron and Gush Etzion.

The attack on Monday afternoon occurred while the soldiers were carrying out a routine patrol on Route 60, a well-traveled West Bank thoroughfare, near the al-Aroub refugee camp north of Hebron. The Palestinian assailant was shot by one of his victims and is in serious condition in a Jerusalem hospital.

The attacker used a screwdriver as a weapon, but was also found to have knives in his possession, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The assailant was identified as Mustafa Baradiya from a village north of Hebron, the Palestinian Maan news agency reported.  Baradiya’s brother, Ibrahim, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers at the entrance to the refugee camp on April 14 after he attempted to attack a soldier with an ax, according to Maan. The army confirmed Maan’s account.

A Palestinian man in his 20s was stopped on Sunday morning while attempting to board the Jerusalem Light Rail with a bag containing pipe bombs that police said he admitted to planning to detonate.