Two Israeli soldiers stabbed by a Palestinian near army base

Israel’s Army Radio station reported on Tuesday that two soldiers were stabbed in the center of the country, in an attack near an army base; one of the soldiers was seriously wounded, while the other only suffered minor injuries.

The attack took place at the Tzrifin junction, near the entrance to a large Israel Defense Forces (IDF) base. According to Army Radio, the assailant was stopped and apprehended by civilians and police officers. Army Radio reported that the assailant is a 21-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank city of Hebron, who held a work permit for the Ma'ale Adumim settlement in the West Bank. However, he did not have a permit to enter or work in Israel. The IDF is now investigating how he was able to get to the site.

The attack on the soldiers came only hours after an attempted shooting attack in northern Israel at the Ma’ale Gilboa kibbutz. No injuries were reported, but some property was damaged by the shooting. As of Tuesday morning, Israeli security forces are still searching the area for the suspect. According to Ynet, the attacker or attackers arrived from the direction of the separation fence, situated between Israel and the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority's WAFA news agency reported that Israeli forces detained 14 Palestinians throughout the West Bank on Tuesday. Eight people were detained in the Deheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, one was detained in Kafr Ni'ma near Ramallah, two were detained in Bayt Liqya also near Ramallah, one was detained near Birzeit University, one was detained in Nablus, and another one was detained in Hebron. Two others were detained in East Jerusalem, according to WAFA. The outlet did not say whether these were related to the stabbing attack.

Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigade and Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade took responsibility for the attack on Ma’ale Gilboa, publishing jointly a video showing the shooting toward the houses of the kibbutz.

Earlier on Monday, police detained a Bedouin woman from the town of Rahat in the Negev region, who had attempted to stab with scissors a police officer near Nablus gate in Jerusalem's Old City.

Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem have increased in recent days. Two Palestinians were killed in the West Bank city of Jenin during an IDF raid. The IDF said the two were killed during fire exchange initiated by armed Palestinians. The Palestinian Health Ministry said that one of the people killed was a member of Al-Aqsa Brigade and the other a staff member of senior Palestinian Authority official Mahmoud Aloul.

Despite these attacks, the first two Ramadan Friday prayers at the Jerusalem Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount compound were conducted peacefully.