Two Israeli soldiers were injured in a stabbing near a military base in central Israel on Tuesday.
One of the soldiers was critically injured and the other was in a mild condition, according to Israel’s emergency service.
A suspect was arrested by civilians and taken by the police for questioning. The search for other possible suspects was ongoing, police said.
The stabbing comes as tensions escalated over the weekend after deadly raids by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank and increased restrictions on Palestinian access to al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.
Israeli forces killed at least 92 Palestinians in 2023, in what the Palestinian health ministry described as the deadliest start to a year since 2000.
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Three Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank cities of Nablus and Hebron on Monday and Sunday. On Friday, a Palestinian was killed at al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli police.
At al-Aqsa, Israeli forces continue to limit who can enter the mosque and when, as thousands flock to the site each night to observe the holy month of Ramadan.
Meanwhile, Israeli residents are set to storm the mosque to celebrate the Passover holiday from Wednesday.
Some settlers have asked authorities to allow them to perform ritual animal slaughter in the mosque’s courtyard, which risks inciting Palestinians and Muslims around the world.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque is an Islamic site where unsolicited visits, prayers and rituals by non-Muslims are prohibited according to decades-old international agreements.
Israeli groups, in collaboration with the authorities, have long violated the sensitive settlement and facilitated raids on the site and conducted religious prayers and rituals.
