Two Israeli Soldiers Attacked After Accidentally Entering West Bank City of Jenin

Soldiers used Waze ■ Two were extracted with the help of Palestinian forces ■ Soldier's gun stolen during the attack

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Two Israeli soldiers who accidentally entered the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday were attacked by Palestinian residents, the military said.

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Palestinians surrounded the vehicle and threw rocks at it until the soldiers were rescued by the Palestinian security services. A rifle belonging to one of the soldiers was stolen during the attack.

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"Without the interference of Palestinian security, this situation could have ended with a lynching and a serious threat to the safety of the soldiers," an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said.

The soldiers, one male and one female, sustained moderate injuries to the upper body and were taken to the Haemek Medical Center in the northern Israeli city of Afula for observation until Tuesday morning.

An initial probe into the incident showed that the soldiers were on their way from the West Bank settlement of Shavei Shomron to Afula when Waze, a navigational phone application they were using, misdirected them to Jenin. The soldiers entered the West Bank at the Gilboa crossing.

As of Monday afternoon, no arrests had been made in the incident, but the IDF did say the identity of the suspects who stole the rifle is known.

About two weeks ago, a 59-year-old Israeli citizen who entered the Palestinian village of Abu Dis in the West Bank was attacked by a mob of some 200 stone-throwing Palestinians. The man sustained light wounds in the incident before being rescued by Palestinian police, who then transferred him to IDF and Border Police forces.

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