A Palestinian assailant committed a terror attack at a military checkpoint near Jerusalem by the city of Ma’ale Adumim this morning.
In security footage obtained by TV7, the suspect is seen ramming a van into a Border Police officer. He then exited the vehicle and stabbed the 20-year-old victim with scissors.
Two soldiers stationed nearby opened fire and immediately neutralized the attacker.
Israel Police Spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld told TV7 that “an explosive device was uncovered in the terrorist’s vehicle.” He further confirmed that the injured Border Police officer was transferred in moderate condition to a Jerusalem hospital for further medical treatment.
Despite ongoing Palestinian terrorism against Israelis, West Bank officials place blame responsibility for the failed peace process between the two sides on Jerusalem.
Speaking from his office in Jericho, Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat reacted to the newly established Israeli government, which he claimed is at a critical juncture that will ultimately impact the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“To form the new coalition government in Israel puts this government in front of two options,” said Erekat, the first of which “is to agree and to announce its commitment to agreements signed and negotiations and peace based on implementation of what we signed together to reach an agreement based on the two-state solution, 1967 lines and international law and that is doable by the two parties.”
The second option, said the senior P.A. official, is for Israeli leaders “ to go the path of dictation, settlements, and annexation” – which he claimed “means that this government would have killed any prospect for negotiated settlements between Palestinians and Israelis, and they would be fully responsible for the collapse of the whole idea of peace.“