A Palestinian man who opened fire on Border Police forces near Tapuah Junction in the northern West Bank was shot dead by the policemen late Monday night, according to initial reports.

One policeman was lightly injured in the incident.

According to reports, the Palestinian man approached the Border Police forces at the junction and opened fire; the policemen then returned fire, fatally wounding the man, who later died of his wounds at the site.

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Last week, Border Police forces at the same junction discovered a Palestinian man wearing an explosive vest and thus prevented a planned suicide bombing.

On Friday, policemen from the Alon battalion of the Border Police saw the man, a 20-year-old Nablus resident, walking toward them wearing a heavy coat, despite the 35-degree-Celsius heat (95 degrees Fahrenheit). The policemen called on the man to stop, at which point he lay down in the road.

Eventually, the suspect allowed policemen to remove his coat, revealing what looked like an explosive belt on his person. He admitted that it was indeed a bomb.

The man was arrested, and police sappers were rushed to the scene to neutralize the bomb. The explosive belt was composed of 12 pipe bombs connected with electric wires.

IDF sources initial estimated that the man was on his way to an attack, possibly against soldiers stationed nearby. Later reports suggested the attack was planned for a city in Israel.



Lazar Berman contributed to this report.