Gas station which was set on fire
Gas station which was set on fireEli spokesmanship

The fire that broke out Friday evening at a self-service gas station on Highway 60, near the Eli community in the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, has been confirmed as an attempted terror attack. 

The gas station, which is located on one of the main traffic arteries in Judea and Samaria, is accessible to both Israelis and Palestinian Arabs. 

Initial investigations indicate that a Palestinian vehicle arrived at the gas station, whereupon two masked men ran out of the car, pouring gasoline around the gas pumps before throwing a firebomb to ignite the blaze. 

Eyewitnesses reports had already claimed as early as Friday that they saw a Palestinian vehicle entering the station and setting it on fire before fleeing the scene.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene and extinguished the flames. There were no injuries, but the gas pumps were destroyed. 

There have been tensions in the area in recent days, particularly since the arson attack on the Palestinian Arab village of Duma, which groups such as Hamas and Fatah have threatened to avenge.

Fresh violence in Samaria followed on Saturday as both a Border Patrol guard and an IDF soldier were attacked by Palestinian terrorists

The border guard was stabbed in the back late Saturday afternoon near Tapuah Junction, in northern Samaria. Other guards quickly responded by shooting and killing the terrorist.

Earlier, at around 11:30 am, another Palestinian stabbed a soldier near a checkpoint on highway 443 in central Samaria. The soldier, who was lightly wounded, managed to draw his gun and injure the terrorist in the shoulder.

Elad Benari contributed to this report.