Israeli soldier stabbed to death at West Bank checkpoint, Palestinian man detained

Israeli soldier stabbed to death in West Bank

JERUSALEM — A knife-wielding Palestinian police officer killed an Israeli soldier Wednesday as he sat in a jeep stopped at a traffic light in the West Bank, the military said, in a rare case of violence recently in the territory.

The attacker reached through the window and stabbed him in the chest, the military said. The wounded soldier, who was alone in the vehicle, tried to drive away, but he lost consciousness and the vehicle spun out of control, flipping over.

The military identified the suspect as Mahmoud Hattib, a Palestinian police officer. He tried to flee after the attack, but a private Israeli security officer hit the suspect with his car, subduing him until police arrived. The dead soldier was identified as Staff Sgt. Ihab Khatib, an Israeli Arab from the Galilee region.

Palestinian officials would not confirm that Hattib was a member of the security forces. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Locals said Hattib is a 27-year-old with ties to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah group.

After the attack, Israeli soldiers entered Hattib’s house in a village in the northern West Bank and ordered young men out, witnesses said.

Lethal attacks were once frequent in the West Bank but have become relatively rare recently, as Palestinian forces have been given increased security responsibility over parts of the territory.

In December, gunmen shot to death a Jewish settler on a road in the West Bank.

In response to the fatal stabbing, settlers charged it was the increased Palestinian security presence that led to the attack.

The stabbing came during heightened tensions between Jewish settlers and the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, under U.S. pressure, has declared a slowdown in construction in West Bank settlements in an attempt to restart peace talks.

Settler spokesman Yishai Hollender said Wednesday that Netanyahu’s policies were “again costing us in blood.”

Associated Press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh contributed to this report from Ramallah, West Bank.