An Israeli hitchhiker shot dead a knife-wielding Palestinian in the West Bank on Monday afternoon after the man tried to stab him and a companion as they waited for a ride near the settlement of Shiloh.
An investigation into the incident ascertained that the two hitchers spotted a man running toward them, carrying a knife with a 20-cm blade. One of the two hitchhikers pulled out his personal weapon and shot the man.
Magen David Adom emergency service personnel pronounced the Palestinian dead at the scene. No Israelis were hurt in the attack.
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The Israel Defense Forces launched an investigation into the incident and the shooter was taken away for questioning. A police spokesman later said that the shooting had been in self-defense.
The father of one of the two hitchers told Haaretz that this was a case of "two friends hitching from Tapuach junction. They got off at Shiloh junction and waited for a ride to Jerusalem. At some point, a strange-looking man headed in their direction. He approached them, spoke in English, shook their hands and asked some questions. My son wanted to call the community guard, and the boy he was with put his hand on his gun. During their conversation, the terrorist leapt at the other boy, who shot him."
National Union-National Religious Party Chairman Uri Ariel said following the incident that "hours after the IDF begins removing checkpoints and easing the movement of West Bank residents, a Palestinian terrorist tries to stab Israelis mere kilometers from the checkpoint that was removed from the Shiloh junction."
"The removal of checkpoints is reckless, and the responsibility lies entirely with Defense Minister Ehud Barak," he added, referring to Barak's order Monday to remove two checkpoints around the West Bank town of Jericho, near Shiloh.
The Yesha Council of settlements issued a statement that the last time the IDF removed checkpoints in the West Bank, a mother of seven from Kohav Hashahar was killed near the spot where the Rimonim checkpoint had stood. The heads of the Yesha Council convened on Sunday in anticipation of the checkpoint removal and demonstrated near the Rimonim junction against the removal.
Earlier Monday, a Palestinian youth attacked a 65-year-old Jewish woman near the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Army Radio reported.
The young man snatched the woman's head covering and fled with it to the Palestinian side of the city. The woman did not require any medical treatment.
