A Palestinian Authority resident teenager managed to enter the Israeli town of Kochav Yaakov in the Binyamin region late on Saturday night. The teen managed to come within a few hundred meters of a populated area before he was intercepted by security forces.
He was unarmed, and told soldiers that he had come with the purpose of being arrested. The youth explained that his father beats him, and that he would prefer to be in an Israeli prison than to remain at home.
Security forces were not entirely convinced by his story, and still fear that he was sent by a terrorist group. Terrorists often send unarmed Arab youth to scout out potential targets before attacks.
Arabs in nearby PA towns have targeted Kochav Yaakov and the nearby community of Tel Tzion in the past, setting fire to nearby fields and destroying Jewish-owned property.
Whether the youth who entered on Saturday night was an abuse victim or involved in terrorism, the ease with which he entered the community has local security teams concerned. A source involved in security in the region told Arutz Sheva that there are known flaws in the current security system in Kochav Yaakov, but that planned upgrades to the system were carried out only in part due to a lack of funds.