IDF thwarts terror attempt as Palestinian crosses Gaza border with knife, bomb

Alert IDF troops intercept Palestinian who was armed with a knife and explosive device.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

IDF troops found an explosive device on a Palestinian who infiltrated the border from Gaza, the IDF said Thursday.

The man was spotted by troops sneaking across the border Wednesday evening and was arrested by soldiers who were rushed to the spot of infiltration.

“It appears that IDF fighters thwarted an attempted terror attack with the arrest of the terrorist and located an explosive device and a knife,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Office tweeted.

IDF troops who monitor the border fence identified a terrorist approaching the fence who alerted troops on patrol who arrested the terrorist who was taken in for questioning.

The military emphasized that there was no danger to Israel communities in the area of the farming communities Ein Hashlosha and Nirim.

That incident came after a Palestinian rammed his car into a soldier and a policeman earlier in the day at the Tapuach Junction in Samaria.

The Palestinian terrorist swerved his car into a parking area and struck the two, before getting out of his car with a knife. A border police officer also at the scene shot and wounded the attacker.

The IDF soldier and police officer were only lightly wounded in the attack.

Last week, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed and killed a 39-year-old Israeli father of four, Rabbi Shai Ohayon, in the city of Petah Tikvah. A 46-year-old Palestinian man was arrested and is facing murder and terrorism charges.

On Tuesday, Israel and Hamas reached a deal under which Jerusalem will reduce some of the restrictions on the coastal enclave in exchange for quiet on the border.

The agreement was brokered by a Qatari diplomat who shuttled between Gaza and Israel trying to find terms that would get Hamas to stop sending hundreds of incendiary and explosive balloons into Israel that for the past several weeks sparked scores of brush and forest fires.

Israel’s concessions include approval for Qatar to work on infrastructure projects in the Strip such as constructing a gas pipeline and funding the operation of a power station, and to send its financial aid for at least the next several months.

Israel agreed to reopen border crossings into Gaza and expand the Gazan fishing zone in the Mediterranean Sea, which had been closed after the arson balloon attacks continued unabated.