Palestinian detained for ‘trying to stab’ Israeli soldier

A Palestinian man on Tuesday was detained for attempting to stab an Israeli soldier near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, an Israeli army source has said.

"[Israeli] army forces detained a Palestinian youth who tried to stab a border guard near the city of Jenin," the source was quoted as saying on Israeli radio.

According to the source, the Palestinian youth approached a border patrol, prompting Israeli forces to arrest him.

"After searching him, a knife was found hidden in his clothes, after which he admitted he had planned to stab a soldier in the area," the source said.

Also Tuesday, Israeli forces shot and injured a young Palestinian man during clashes in the town of Qabatiya west of Jenin.

Ma’an News Agency reported that around 40 Israeli military vehicles rolled into the town at dawn, and that soldiers fired tear gas canisters, stun grenades, and rubber-coated bullets.

Local Palestinians threw empty bottles and stones at the vehicles, and Israeli soldiers starting firing live bullets, injuring 20-year-old Muhammad Ali Hithnawi in the left foot.

Additionally, Noah Fadel Zakarna, 21, was hurt after inhaling tear gas, the Ma’an report said.

Both of the young men were taken to Jenin’s public hospital.

An Israeli military spokeswoman was quoted by Ma’an as saying Palestinians in the village "hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at IDF forces" who responded with riot dispersal means and fired live bullets into the air.

But the spokeswoman said that “no direct hits were confirmed”.

Such confrontations between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces are commonplace in the West Bank, which has been occupied by the Israeli army since 1967.