(IsraelNN.com) Arabs attacked two Jewish youths with stones and foreign objects Saturday night and then stoned soldiers who were called to rescue them. One of the youths was hospitalized with a broken nose. The attackers escaped.

Hevron Jewish community leaders said they recently warned IDF Hevron brigade commander Colonel Udi Ben Mokha that there has been a severe escalation in attacks on the Erez alley, the only pedestrian path linking Kiryat Arba with Hevron.

They said attacks have become almost a daily routine, and range from stone throwing to blocking the path with garbage, stones and foreign objects and putting pedestrians in danger of an ambush. Attempts by Arab terrorists to stab soldiers guarding the entrance to the Tomb of the Patriarchs holy site also have become a routine event.
Attacks have become almost a daily routine.

During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which concludes this week, Jews discovered Hamas flags scattered inside the prayer halls of the holy site. One of the Jewish worshippers said there was a distinct smell of urine, apparently from a Muslim who defiled the area, next to the Holy Ark containing Torah scrolls.

Arab attacks during the Sabbath were not restricted to Hevron, and one Israeli driver was lightly wounded in a shooting attack near the community of Alei Zahav in Samaria. The attackers used a tactic common in the first Intifada in the early 1990s, blocking the road with rocks and then firing on the driver when he stopped his vehicle to clear the blockade. Another vehicle sustained damage. The attackers escaped.

Other attacks occurred near Beitar Illit, west of Efrat, where Arab terrorists threw a firebomb at a Jewish driver, and in Shilo in Samaria, where attackers damaged a vehicle with stones and rocks. The driver escaped unhurt.