By Gil Ronen
IDF officer Lt. Matan Salomon prevented a knife attack on cyclists and soldiers at the Gush Etzion junction near Alon Shvut Sunday.
"We stood at the junction to provide security for a bicycle trek from Kiryat Arba to Jerusalem," Salomon recounted. "When the cyclists arrived I noticed a suspicious man dressed in black. He was standing about one meter behind one of my soldiers, and looking in all directions."
"I alerted the soldier and as we looked at the man's ID card I noticed that there was a knife in one of his pockets. I lunged at him and struggled with him, and managed to wrest away the knife."
Salomon wrestled the terrorist to the floor. "I noticed a pool of blood caused by self-stabbing and alerted the medical forces, who evacuated him to hospital," he said.
The terrorist is reportedly about 14 years old. A military intensive care ambulance took him to Hadassah Ein Karem for treatment.
