Palestinian Stabbings 'Disturbing New Pattern'

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israeli U.N. Ambassador Ron Proser urged Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to speak out against a recent spate of stabbing attacks of Israelis, saying "no decent person would tolerate" such tactics.

One observer told CBN News that an increasingly common ploy is asking soldiers for a drink of water before attempting to stab them.

On Monday, IDF troops shot an assailant dead after he stabbed a Border Police officer at the Tapuach Junction in Samaria. A similar incident took place there this past Saturday when 25-year-old Mohammed Amsha told soldiers he was sick and needed help. When a soldier asked to see his identity card, Amsha tried to stab him in the head.

Proser called Monday's stabbing at the Tapuach Junction a "disturbing new pattern…that no decent person would tolerate."

"Attacks of this kind are especially outrageous because they take advantage of a person's natural desire to help their fellow man in their time of need in order to kill him," Prosor wrote.

"Not only do such attacks pose a grave threat for Israelis," he said, but could potentially harm those in genuine need of assistance.

Prosor urged Ban to call on the Palestinian Authority to condemn the perpetrators and work to prevent further attacks rather than pay them while they're incarcerated.

Recent Terror Statistics 

In response to a query the IDF told CBN News that in the two weeks following last month's firebomb attack on an Arab home, which killed a toddler and his father and was allegedly carried out by Jewish extremists, there has been a rash of terror attacks against Israeli military and civilian targets.

The 15 attacks include shootings, stabbings, a vehicular attack, grenades and IEDs (improvised explosive devices), which took place before the weekend attacks. There were some 190 rock-throwing incidents at Israeli vehicles, the IDF and settlements, nearly 60 Molotov cocktail attacks, and about 120 disturbances (riots).

"The IDF operates around the clock to maintain order and security for the residents of Judea and Samaria, Palestinians and Israelis alike," the IDF told CBN News by email.

Seven Indicted for Murder

Meanwhile, seven Palestinian Arabs have been indicted in an Israeli military court for the murders of Malachi Rosenfeld and Danny Gonen.

Rosenfeld, 27, and Gonen, 25, were killed in separate shooting attacks this past June. A drive-by shooter fired more than a dozen bullets at Rosenfeld and three of his friends as they were driving home from a basketball game. All four were hit. Rosenfeld died of his wounds the next day.

In the second incident, an Arab feigning help waived down Gonen and his friend before shooting them at point blank range, killing Gonen.

The mastermind behind Rosenfeld's murder, Ahmed Najar, was released with nearly 1,000 other terrorists in the prisoner exchange for former IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011. Najar was serving six life sentences at the time of his release, the Jerusalem Post recounted.

From his home in Jordan, Najar instructed his brother, Amjan, on the logistics of the attack, while providing funds for him and three accomplices to buy weapons.

The same terror cell attacked an ambulance near Beit El a few days before the shooting that took Rosenfeld's life. The gunman, Mohammed Abu Shaheen, was involved in a number of other attacks against Israeli soldiers, one in which he allegedly used his cellphone to lure troops within range of an ambush.