Israeli forces catch Palestinian terrorist on way to attack

Palestinians continue to seek ways to harm Israel’s civilian population.

Israeli forces detained a Palestinian terrorist near the community of Mishor Adumim Saturday afternoon as he was on his way to commit an attack.

Palestinian sources named the terrorist as Mustafa al-Najjar, 36, a Palestinian police officer from the Bethlehem area.

Israeli police spokesperson Luba Samri said in a statement that Israeli forces set up a checkpoint near Mishor Adumim after they “received information saying that the suspect left his house planning a terrorist attack.”

When he arrived at the checkpoint in a taxi, Israeli police detained him, Samri said, adding that the suspect was carrying an Israeli police uniform. He was taken for further questioning.

“The [Israeli] police are inspecting the suspect’s intentions of using the police uniform as it is suspected that he planned to use it in the terrorist attack he planned,” Samri added.

“Thanks to precise intelligence, determination and the vigilance of our security forces, we were able to make the arrest before the suspect was able to carry out his plans,” said the commander of the Border Police unit who made the arrest.

The Palestinian Maan news agency report that Al-Najjar is a former prisoner and was released from Israeli custody about a year ago after completing a 10-year sentence.