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Itongadol.- Security forces arrested last week a Palestinian resident of the Al-Bira district of Ramallah on suspicion of stabbing a nine-year-old Israeli girl in neighboring Psagot in October, the army announced Sunday.
The suspect has linked himself to the attack, and revealed details of the incident that only someone who was involved could possibly know, Col. Yossi Pinto, Commander of the Binyamin Regional Brigade said.
An additional resident of Al-Bira, who knew about the attack after it occurred, is also under arrest.
The army made the arrest last Tuesday evening after receiving an intelligence tip off from the Israel Police.
The Shin Bet [Israel Security Agency] stated that the motive was criminal, and that it was not viewing this as a nationalistic-terrorist attack.
The main suspect has been named as Abdullah Abu Kabita, 21, of Al-Bira. He said during questioning that he planned to break into a home in Psagot in order to steal arms, which he required for a personal dispute, the Shin Bet [Israel Security Agency] said.
A few days before the stabbing, Abu Kabita arrived at the community with a friend, cut a hole in the fence, and aproached a home. He retreated after noticing a car driving nearby.
On October 5, he arrived alone, and entered Psagot through the hole in the fence he had made. He walked towards the nearest home. He told interregotaors he was surprised by the girl, stabbed her in the shoulder, and fled back to Ramallah.
Pinto said that the motive was "irrelevant," adding that from the army\’s perspective, the suspect is a terrorist.
"He knowingly attacked a nine-year-old girl. The question of whether this is criminal or terrorist is less significant," Pinto said. "He came to attack, so this is in effect a terrorist incident." The attacker acted alone without the support of wider terrorist infrastructure, Pinto added.
He was arrested last week in his home, although the original plan was to arrest him elsewhere. A change in the suspect\’s patterns led the army to alter its plans.
"The fact that the the top off came from the police does not tell us about motives," Pinto stressed.
"The suspect described the details of the incident, things we did not publicize. He described sneaking into the community [through a hole in a fence]. En route to a home, he met the girl, and stabbed her twice.
She cried out. He was startled, and fled through the same path he took to get in. He ran into the girl, but was prepared to attack," the commander added.