Don't bring a knife to a gunfight
Don't bring a knife to a gunfightMendy Hechtman/Flash 90

An Arab terrorist attempted to conduct a stabbing attempt at Tapuach Junction not far from Ariel in Samaria on Sunday, but apparently lost his nerve when the soldiers he intended to murder reacted to his approach.

The terrorist came towards IDF forces from the direction of the hitchhiking station at the junction and drew a knife.

In response, the soldiers followed procedures for arresting a terror suspect, which include firing in the air, and the unnerved terrorist threw away his knife.

He was arrested and handcuffed while lying on the ground; fortunately he did not manage to harm anyone.

The stabbing attempt comes just hours after a 23-year-old female Israeli Arab conducted a stabbing attack in Rosh Ha'ayin. Police have yet to officially define the attack as terrorism.

In the stabbing Reut Weitzman, a 30-year-old mother of three from Kfar Saba, was lightly injured, suffering a stab wound to the arm. She was evacuated to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.

The attacks are the first since a stabbing in Hevron two weeks ago on Wednesday, in which two Arab terrorists stabbed a soldier before being shot dead. One was shot by a soldier as he lay wounded on the ground, and the soldier currently is being tried for manslaughter over the incident.

The soldier argues that he shot over concerns the terrorist had a bomb belt hidden on him and was about to detonate. That those concerns were not ruled out has been backed by the MDA and an IDF investigation.