12-Jan-16: Tuesday terror attacks: one by shooting, one by knifing

An IDF security checkpoint near Abu Dis [Wikipedia image]

It can be disconcerting when the weather in Israel turns unusually mild and fine in the middle of winter. That's because the evidence suggests young Palestinian Arab men and women find it somehow more congenial to launch terror attacks on Israeli targets (read Israeli human bodies) at such times.

Today is one such day. So far, though they are barely noticed and almost completely unreported outside Israel, there have been two.

The IDF, quoted by Israel National News, says a small group of Arab gunmen opened fire on soldiers manning the Abu Dis security checkpoint, close to Bethlehem. They arrived at the target site by car, opened fire without inflicting any injuries (or worse) and quickly drove off. As we write this, a search is underway; none of the culprits has been apprehended yet.

The second was a stabbing attack. This afternoon around 1:00 pm, a Palestinian Arab assailant, brandishing a knife, lunged at an IDF soldier stationed at the Beit Anoun junction on Route 60, some 5 km north of Hebron and close to Kiryat Arba. (A similar attack, with a similar outcome, happened in the same area this past Thursday night.) Alert soldiers, presumably aware of the constant threat in the area and spotting the attacker, opened fire and ended the assault as well as the attacker's career. (Ma'an News Agency suggests two attackers were killed, but there is no confirmation of that from Israel as of the time we are writing this.) On the Facebook page of the terrorism-friendly Shehab News Agency, the dead knifer's portrait is already published along with the familiar salutes to his "martyrdom".