Palestinian Teen Stabs Two Israelis at West Bank Checkpoint

Latest Developments

A Palestinian teen stabbed two Israelis at a checkpoint along a West Bank highway leading to Jerusalem on March 13. Israeli police said in a statement that soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) shot and killed 15-year-old Muhammad Abu Hamed after he stabbed a 25-year-old civilian security guard and a 19-year-old female military police officer at the Tunnel Crossing checkpoint on Route 60. The Magen David Adom ambulance service transported the victims to a hospital in Jerusalem, where they are listed in good-to-moderate condition.

Terrorists previously attacked the same checkpoint in October and November. Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai said, “The area has become a choice location for terror attacks. This is the third time in a row. There are too many extremists trying to escalate the situation, and they’re on social media too.”

Expert Analysis

“Because Qatar’s widely watched Al-Jazeera praises Palestinian martyrs day and night and celebrates Israeli deaths, the culture among many Arabs will continue to be skewed toward violence, especially against Israelis. An end to Palestinian violence against Israelis does not entail defeating Hamas only but also treating the root causes of violence, including the instigation that we see in some Arab circles and media.” — Hussain Abdul-Hussain, FDD Research Fellow

“In the West Bank and Gaza, some Palestinian children are growing up in a society that glorifies martyrdom, with posters of deceased terrorists who’ve carried out heinous acts displayed prominently in their communities. Such a toxic atmosphere encourages young people to carry out acts that will likely result in death. Some Palestinians often laud these types of attacks against Israelis, but in reality, it highlights serious issues of a struggling society.” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal

“The increasing prevalence of Palestinian child terrorists — tragic in its own right — will cause Israeli soldiers to treat Palestinian youths with justified suspicion. This is a recipe for even more Palestinian child deaths amid heightened tensions.” — David May, FDD Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst

Teen Violence

Palestinian teenagers have frequently taken part in fighting Israeli forces in the West Bank. On November 7, a 16-year-old Palestinian teen stabbed and killed 20-year-old American-Israeli police officer Sgt. Elisheva Rose Lublin in Jerusalem’s Old City. On February 5, a 14-year-old Palestinian teen attempted to stab Israeli Border Police officers in the West Bank town of al-Eizariya near eastern Jerusalem before being shot and killed by the officers.

On March 6, a 14-year-old Palestinian attacker stabbed a 64-year-old Orthodox Jew in the back at a Jerusalem bus stop before being arrested by police. On March 5, a 17-year-old Palestinian stabbed an Israeli soldier at an army post near the Yitzhar Junction in the northern West Bank before being shot and killed by Israeli troops.

Palestinians Train and Use Child Militants

Palestinian terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Lebanon have actively recruited, trained, and used child militants for years. Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) run youth summer camps, which include military training. In January, the IDF published photos and videos of Hamas members training children using mock weapons and simulating drills in tunnels. The evidence also shows children’s Hamas and PIJ membership ID cards. Older videos released by PIJ in 2021 show children as young as 10 training on how to abduct IDF soldiers — despite recruitment posters for the organization claiming that the program is for children between the ages of 14 and 17.

The Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah established a youth movement more than three decades ago called the Imam al-Mahdi Scouts, which trains children to use weapons and indoctrinates them with the group’s ideology.

Related Analysis

“Teen Terrorist Injures Israeli in Jerusalem,” FDD Flash Brief

“Teenaged perpetrators of terror,” by Enia Krivine and Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus

“Hamas defends its military summer camps for children and teenagers,” by Joe Truzman

“Palestinian Terrorist Attack Near Jerusalem Kills One,” FDD Flash Brief