(JTA) — Israeli troops near Nablus shot and severely wounded a Palestinian man they said had tried to stab one of them.
No Israelis were injured in the incident Friday afternoon, the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Unit told Army Radio.
The suspected assailant was identified as Hasan Khalid al-Qadhi, 26, from the village of Awarta, Maan news reported.
On Wednesday, two Palestinian cousins killed four people at an upscale Tel Aviv food court. One of the assailants was moderately injured. Both were captured.
The attack followed a relatively quiet month, with only 101 terrorist attacks in May – the lowest figure on record since March 2015, according to the monthly terrorism activity report that the Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet, published earlier this week.
With 12 terrorist attack victims wounded, May was the second consecutive month since August with no fatalities among victims. In April, Shin Bet recorded 115 attacks. Of the 101 attacks recorded in May, 65 involved firebombs, 11 featured an explosive charge and three were stabbing attacks.
Approximately 30 victims of terrorist attacks have lost their lives in attacks since August, and hundreds have been wounded. Approximately 200 Palestinians have also been killed since then, most, according to Israel, while carrying out attacks or in riots.
In Israel and the West Bank, attacks began increasing in August, when 171 of them were documented, and rose sharply in September and October, with 223 and 620 attacks recorded in those months respectively. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in October called the escalation “a terror wave,” whereas many in the Israeli and Palestinian media dubbed it “the third intifada,” or “the knife intifada.”
But the overall number of attacks decreased to 326 in November, 246 in December, 169 in January, 155 in February and 123 in March.
