IDF Troops Stop Attempted Attack On City of Barkan By Palestinians, 1 Killed

Good for the IDF as they spotted a group of palestinians attempting to attack at the city of Barkan - the IDF killed one attacker, but unfortunately, the rest were able to escape.

From the article at Israel National News:

IDF soldiers stopped a group of Arabs from carrying out an attack on the Samarian Jewish town of Barkan in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Soldiers from the Ephraim Brigade spotted a group of operatives approaching the fence around the perimeter of the community after having set an ambush nearby. There have been reports of repeated attempts to infiltrate the community in recent weeks.

Once the soldiers had positively identified the individuals approaching the fence as suspicious, and believing that at least one was armed, troops called on the Palestinians to halt – and when the order was ignored, they opened fire. One of the would-be infiltrators was killed, but his companions managed to escape.

IDF soldiers are continuing to search the area for the suspects.

Now, the article goes on to try and spin this potential attack as criminal as opposed to terroristic but I call bullshit on that - the fact that the attackers weren't decked out in Hamas garb doesn't mean this wasn't a form of terror planned incursion.

But it does represent the daily reminder of the potential attacks on Israel - each morning the Israelis wake to potential rockets landing in Sderot, attacks like this in Barkan and suicide bombers trying to enter through all border crossings. It just never ends. Never.

IDF Stops Attempted Attack on Samarian Town of Barkan


IDF soldiers stopped a group of Arabs from carrying out an attack on the Samarian Jewish town of Barkan in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Soldiers from the Ephraim Brigade spotted a group of operatives approaching the fence around the perimeter of the community after having set an ambush nearby. There have been reports of repeated attempts to infiltrate the community in recent weeks.

Once the soldiers had positively identified the individuals approaching the fence as suspicious, and believing that at least one was armed, troops called on the Palestinians to halt – and when the order was ignored, they opened fire. One of the would-be infiltrators was killed, but his companions managed to escape.

IDF soldiers are continuing to search the area for the suspects.

In the wake of the incident, Civil Administration head Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai turned to his Palestinian Authority counterparts in the Kalkilya region to carry out a joint investigation of the incident. Mordechai also asked PA commanders to restrain the local Arab population and their own forces in the area in response to the incident, according to the IDF communique. Within hours, PA commanders had sent a representative to the site of the attempted infiltration.

According to the IDF, initial evidence indicates that the motive for the attack may have been criminal, rather than nationalistic. This is standard procedure unless the terrorists are known or their actions make terrorism an obvious motive.

Barkan, located in southern Samaria, is approximately 10 kilometers east of Elkana, next to Highway 5, the “Trans-Samaria Highway” and slightly west of the Samarian city of Ariel. Founded in 1981, the town includes a large industrial park featuring at least 120 businesses and factories that employ more than 5,000 workers, including many PA Arabs, who will be unemployed if Abbas' plan for banning PA Arab work for Israelis goes into effect