Israeli woman ‘dressed as Palestinian’ shot while trying to stab troops in West Bank

An Israeli woman who tried to stab soldiers was shot and wounded in the northern West Bank on Friday evening in what officials were reportedly investigating as a potential attempt to die by suicide.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said the woman aged around 40 approached the soldiers near the Tapuah Junction and tried to stab them.

“In response, the soldiers opened fire in her direction to remove the danger,” the military said.

The woman was wounded in her lower body and taken to a hospital in moderate condition. No troops were injured in the incident.

According to Army Radio, investigators were probing whether the woman may have been trying to die by suicide. The IDF said the woman was “dressed as a Palestinian,” without elaborating

The incident came amid heightened tensions in the West Bank amid a series of deadly Palestinian terror shootings, and reprisal attacks by extremist Jewish settlers.

The Tapuah Junction has seen a number of terror attacks in recent years and is some 10 kilometers (six miles) from Eli, where four Israelis were killed in a shooting on Tuesday.

Since then hundreds of right-wing extremists have rampaged through Palestinian towns and fields. One Palestinian man was killed in unclear circumstances during a settler riot in Turmus Ayya.

The incident at Tapuah Junction came just weeks after a young Israeli woman was shot dead in a so-called “suicide by cop” at a West Bank checkpoint.

Livnat Green was killed last month when she approached the Metzadot Yehuda Crossing, holding what appeared to be a gun.

According to the Defense Ministry, Green — dressed and veiled in black — arrived close to the settlement of Beit Yatir, pulled out a gun, and ran at the checkpoint while shouting “Allahu akbar” — “God is great” in Arabic — before being shot by security guards.

A Jewish Israeli woman who was shot dead at a checkpoint in the West Bank after running at it with an airsoft gun, in an apparent ‘suicide by cop’ incident, on May 9, 2023. (Courtesy)

The ministry said the guards “reacted quickly and neutralized her before she could open fire.” It was later revealed that the apparent weapon was an airsoft gun.

In a leaked WhatsApp conversation, the young woman asked a friend: “If someone wants to die, an ordinary Jew, an Israeli, wearing Arab clothes, runs with a fake airsoft gun toward a checkpoint in the territories, shouts Allahu akbar because he wants to be shot because he wants to die, and then they only get shot in the legs and he stays alive, do you [put] them in prison for that? And if so, for how long and for what charge?”

A selfie apparently taken by the woman shortly before the incident showed her dressed up in a niqab and long black dress, while holding the airsoft gun.

The friend notified police, who reportedly sent out warnings to various checkpoints across the West Bank, though apparently not in time.

Livnat Green gives an interview to Channel 13 news on November 5, 2020. (Screenshot: Twitter; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

It was later revealed that woman who had died was Green, who had a troubled childhood that saw her move between many welfare institutions.

Her life story was published in the media almost three years ago after she posted online that she was being kicked out of a Beersheba welfare hostel on short notice, 18 months after ending her mandatory military service in the Border Police. She then moved into a tent outside the Welfare Ministry in November 2020.

In the wake of the reports, she was taken in by then-MK Naftali Bennett and his family.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.