Israeli Defence Forces Thwart Stabbing Attack in West Bank

TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - A knife attack has been prevented by the Israeli military in the West Bank at a junction to the south of Jerusalem, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) announced on Thursday.

Our soldiers just thwarted a stabbing attack at the Gush Etzion Junction, south of Jerusalem.

The terrorist was neutralized.

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 2, 2020

​Israel's continued construction of settlements in the West Bank is one of the main issues that has hindered any progress in settling the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. Palestine has been demanding that its borders be reset to those that existed before the Six-Day War, but Israel has been refusing to concede.

The West Bank is a territory long contested by the Palestinians and Israel. The area has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War. Since then, Israel has sought to build settlements in the occupied area, a process that the United Nations considers to be illegal. In November, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States no longer viewed these settlements as illegal, a statement that drew criticism from UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.