The commander of the troops shot the terrorist as one of his soldiers, a female, blocked the assailant.
By World Israel News Staff
IDF troops thwarted an attempted stabbing attack at Gitai Avisar Junction, near Ariel in Samaria, which is southwest of the Arab-populated town of Nablus, or Shechem, at around noon on Tuesday.
IDF troops at a military post spotted the assailant, who attempted to stab two IDF soldiers guarding the junction.
One of the soldiers blocked the assailant’s multiple stabbing attacks, and the commander of the troops who was at the scene fired towards the assailant and neutralized him. No IDF injuries were reported.
Israel’s N12 website reports that the incident began when a male and female soldier crossed the intersection of Giti Avisar to inspect a suspicious vehicle. When the terrorist passed, they perceived something suspicious in his behavior, turned to him and recognized that he had a knife drawn directly at the female soldier.
She said later she fought and pushed the terrorist away with her hand and then with her rifle.
As this went on, the troop commander took a step back and looked for an open angle to fire at the terrorist without hitting his soldier. He finally succeeded in getting off a shot.
Preliminary documentation from the scene shows the terrorist lying on the floor after being neutralized.
The female soldier is a lone soldier from England, meaning she immigrated to serve in the IDF without her immediate family as support.
Yossi Dagan, head of the Shomron Regional Council, arrived at the scene of the attack and talked to the soldiers, N12 reports.
“You are heroes, thanks to you a much bigger attack was avoided,” he said. “The residents of Samaria and the entire State of Israel thank you.”
Addressing the government, he said, “The response of the government and the guidance of the political echelon to the army should be a determined action within the villages from which the perpetrators emerge to make it clear that we will not permit harm to life’s routine and certainly not to human lives.”