West Bank teen arrested as suspect in Rahat stabbing of Jewish woman

Shin Bet announces arrest of approximately 17-year-old male from Yatta.

By BEN HARTMAN
Updated: FEBRUARY 25, 2016 00:47
Knife used in Rahat stabbing (photo credit: PIPER FERGUSON)
Knife used in Rahat stabbing
(photo credit: PIPER FERGUSON)
A Palestinian stabbed a Jewish woman in a terrorist attack in the Beduin city of Rahat earlier this month after he was influenced by propaganda he saw on Hamas-affiliated TV, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said on Wednesday while announcing the teenager’s arrest.
The 17-year-old stabbed Shlomit Gonen from Kibbutz Mishmar Hanegev on February 6 while she was shopping in the central market in the city, and fled on foot. Gonen was moderately- to-seriously wounded.
Gonen was wounded by a single stab wound to her upper body, paramedics said.
The terrorist was caught on surveillance cameras fleeing the scene, using an escape path that he had selected ahead of time, the Shin Bet said on Wednesday. He was arrested three days after the attack at his family home in Yatta, near Hebron.
The youth had entered Israel through a gap in the West Bank security barrier; he and other Palestinians were assisted by accomplices on the Israeli side who picked them up and drove them to the Rahat area, the Shin Bet said.
He confessed to having taken part in clashes with IDF troops in the Hebron area in recent months and while the 2014 war was raging in the Gaza Strip.
As with previous terrorist crimes, the Shin Bet said that the stabber was heavily influenced by propaganda, in particular on the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aksa TV, which “was enough to cause him to want to carry out the attack.”
A series of local officials from Rahat condemned the attack, and invited Gonen to return to the city after she recovered.