Wanted Palestinian terrorist found hiding in car trunk at Jerusalem checkpoint

The Israeli Police on Wednesday arrested a wanted Palestinian terrorist who was found hiding in the trunk of a car while attempting to enter the Jewish state’s pre-1967 borders illegally from Samaria, the force said on Thursday.

“A wanted terror suspect from Tulkarem, who was believed to be planning a terror attack against our civilians, hid in the trunk of a car with another Palestinian buddy of his and attempted to illegally sneak into our cities through a Jerusalem crossing,” Lt. Dean Elsdunne, the Israel Police’s international spokesman, said in a video statement.

“Those that are following along know these checkpoints stop terrorism, weapons smuggling and many more dangers,” he stated. “Here, yet another attack thwarted, just like yesterday, when we intercepted a guy on Highway 60 who literally admitted he wants to go commit an attack.”

“These crossings that we all go through aren’t about whatever lies they’re spewing—they’re the line between a regular Tuesday and a tragedy,” added Elsdunne.

In another operation in the Palestinian city of al-Eizariya, located in the Judean Desert just outside Jerusalem, undercover Border Police officers arrested a terror suspect, police stated separately.

The operation was carried out following intelligence provided by the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) and in cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces, according to the statement.

Police said the forces carried out the operation without incident. The suspect was transferred into Shin Bet custody for further questioning.

Palestinian terrorists targeted Israeli Jews in Judea and Samaria at least 5,051 times in 2025, according to figures published by the Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) NGO.

The figures do not include the hundreds of violent attacks on Israeli security personnel occurring during ongoing counter-terrorism operations in Arab towns under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Twenty-four Israelis were murdered in Judea and Samaria in 2025, and more than 400 others were wounded, per the group’s annual report.

The findings, which were cross-checked against official data from Israeli security agencies, included 3,299 instances of rock-throwing, 655 attempts to blind drivers with laser pointers, 458 firebomb attacks, 286 attacks involving explosives and 19 shootings.