IDF soldiers
IDF soldiersIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Soldiers Sunday morning shot dead a young Arab who refused orders to halt and tried to stab them with a broken bottle at a checkpoint in the Jordan Valley. Soldiers previously have stopped the smuggling of pipe bombs and explosives through Jordan Valley checkpoints, but attempts to kill soldiers have been far less frequent than in the rest of Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

Foreign media reported that the Arab, described as being from a nearby village and in his 20s, was unarmed, but the IDF said he possessed a broken bottle and refused orders to halt while approaching the Hamra checkpoint.

Soldiers followed normal procedures and fired warning shots in the air and then aimed at him as he continued towards them. The soldiers were unharmed.

It was the second attempted stabbing of soldiers in less than 24 hours. Two women soldiers leaving their base in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem, escaped injuries Saturday night when an Arab attempted to kill them with a knife.  

The terrorist was arrested and admitted that his motive was to kill the soldiers.

The IDF has warned soldiers and civilians not to stand alone at hitchhiking stations and bus stops, especially in Gush Etzion and several other points in Judea and Samaria.

In 2010, Arab terrorists carried out 455 attacks against Israelis in Judea and Samaria and in areas of Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinian Authority for their hoped-for new country. The number is les than in 2009, partly due to improved Israeli intelligence that has helped prevent terrorist attacks before they are initiated.

Security officials also noted that soldiers and intelligence officials succeeded in eliminating several senior terrorist leaders in 2010 as part of efforts to destroy the terrorist infrastructure.