30-Sep-16: South of Hebron this afternoon, a stabbing attack on a senior IDF commanding officer is thwarted

To Negohot [Image Source]

The initial reports are sketchy but it appears there has been a terrorism incident in the Hebron area this afternoon in which a senior officer almost became the victim.

From Ynet:

IDF forces arrested a young Palestinian Friday afternoon after discovering a knife on him during a check which took place after he approached the vehicle of Col. Itzik Cohen, commander of the Nahal Brigade and special forces, during a patrol of south Mount Hebron. The Palestinian knocked on the window prompting the soldiers to alight and conduct a search and arrest.

Via Hebrew social media sources, we see this happened around 2:30 pm this afternoon (Friday). That source also shows a snapshot of the would-be assailant's knife.

Israel National News has now named the senior officer as Colonel Itzik Cohen, an IDF brigade commander with top-level field operations responsibility in the Hebron zone. The attack took place near Negohot, in the region known as the South Hebron Hills (meaning Area C and therefore under full Israeli control):

The terrorist, who was armed with a knife, approached the soldiers who were standing near Negohot in the western Hevron Hills. He attempted to stab the brigade commander Colonel Itzik Cohen. The soldiers who were present managed to stop him in time. Initial investigations show that the soldier who was securing the area spotted the terrorist approaching the senior commander's vehicle. When the soldier stopped the terrorist for questioning, he found that the suspect was holding a knife behind his back. Additional soldiers who were in the area gained control over the terrorist. No one was hurt.

Negahot has the dubious distinction of currently being one of Israel's four most-vulnerable communities. A report just two weeks ago [here] said the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Knesset - whose work covers the foreign affairs of the state, its armed forces and its security, was told that the IDF Homefront Command considers four Yehuda and Shomron communities to be under especially significant security threat. They are Elon Moreh, Otniel, Karmei Tzur and Negahot. The IDF urged the government to enhance the defenses of those places immediately, which may explain the presence of a senior officer there this afternoon.