IDF soldier stabbed at Jenin checkpoint

Artillery Corps soldier in light-to-moderate condition; army wraps up brief Gaza ground operation.

By YAAKOV KATZ
checkpoint kalandia 224. (photo credit: AP)
checkpoint kalandia 224.
(photo credit: AP)
An Artillery Corps soldier was stabbed at a checkpoint near Jenin on Tuesday night, suffering moderate wounds. Earlier, the army wrapped up a brief ground operation inside the Gaza Strip during which one soldier was lightly wounded and 10 terror suspects were captured. The Artillery Corps soldier was stabbed during a routine inspection of Palestinians crossing through the checkpoint, not far from the evacuated settlement of Sa-Nur. A Palestinian approached the soldier, pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the neck. The attacker was immediately apprehended and the soldier was evacuated in light-to-moderate condition to Hillel Yaffe Hospital in Hadera. IDF sources said that, in recent months, there has been an increase in the number of attempts to attack soldiers at roadblocks in the West Bank. Last week, security forces foiled a similar attack near the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. During the Gaza raid, a row of armored personnel carriers and engineering vehicles forayed into the Strip early Tuesday morning and took up positions near Gaza City's Sajaiyeh neighborhood. One soldier was lightly wounded in an exchange of fire with Palestinian gunmen. Several mortars were also fired at a military base just outside the Gaza Strip, near Nahal Oz. Also Tuesday, in a joint IDF-Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) operation aimed at cracking down on terror financing, soldiers raided the homes and offices of 14 money changes throughout the West Bank and confiscated NIS 3 million. The army said the operation was intended to prevent funds from reaching Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the West Bank. IDF sources said terrorists had used the past few months to increase the amount of funds they import into Israel from abroad. Shekels, US dollars and Jordanian dinars were confiscated from the homes in Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, Ramallah and Hebron. In the last three months of 2007, $3.4m. was transferred to terrorist groups, most of it to Hamas in the West Bank, according to a military statement. The money serves as "gas that fuels the terror activities," the army said. Palestinian witnesses said the soldiers detained 10 money changers at four locations in the West Bank and confiscated thousands of dollars in cash and checks. Asman Abu Saud, a money changer in Nablus, denied transferring money to terrorists. He said he was not authorized to make money transfers and did not know why he had been targeted. "They came to me at 2 a.m., forced me to go to my office in the center of Nablus and took all my money," said Abu Saud. A money changer from Jenin said the soldiers took more than $109,000 from him. The soldiers also confiscated three pistols, gun parts, documents and CDs, the army said. AP contributed to this report.