An Arab terrorist on Monday morning attacked and attempted to stab Israeli forces securing a junction on Route 35 in the Hebron area.

The terrorist was neutralized and arrested. There were no Israeli casualties in the incident.

A police investigation shows that around 9:00, a policeman who was at a checkpoint at the HaOfakim junction noticed a suspect advancing towards him on foot from the vineyards near the junction with his hands behind his back.

The policeman called on the terrorist to stop but he kept moving towards him and did not respond to the policeman’s calls. At some point, the policeman noticed that the suspect was holding a knife in his hand.

Again the policeman called on the suspect to stop and when he did not respond to the calls the policeman drew his weapon and overpowered the terrorist.

A preliminary investigation indicates that the suspect planned to carry out a stabbing attack.

The 19-year-old suspect, a resident of Hebron, was taken for  questioning.

Minister of Tourism Assaf Zamir announced Friday he was resigning from the government in protest of its conduct, and especially that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Zamir, of the Blue and White faction, claimed that he could “no longer sit in a government that I do not have the slightest bit of confidence in its leader.”

“I have many times voted against government decisions but I bear collective responsibility for their existence even when I objected. I have always believed in trying to influence from within, even at the cost of public criticism, as long as I believed that the results of my actions make a difference, do good. I no longer feel this way,” he added in a Facebook post.

“After four and a half months as a member of the government I sadly state that the Corona crisis with its dire consequences is at best second on the prime minister’s list of priorities. It is the personal and legal considerations that are at the forefront of Netanyahu’s eyes. This is evident in every step,” he claimed.

Following Zamir’s resignation, Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz decided to appoint Minister Orit Farkash HaCohen as Minister of Tourism. Deputy Ministry of Defense Michael Bitton will also assume the role of Minister of Strategic Affairs, held until now by Farkash HaCohen.

Other members of the Blue and White faction are expected to follow in Zamir’s footsteps.

The government on Wednesday evening approved the extension of the country-wide lockdown until October 14, adding another four days.

The closure is expected to continue for a significant period and will probably be extended as the government has apparently lost control of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Israel.

The government also approved a prohibition on entering another person’s place of residence including a visit inside someone else’s Sukkah during the full closure. The government has imposed a fine of NIS 500 on those who violate this provision.

The seven-day holiday of Sukkot will begin on Friday night.

The ministers also approved a seven-day interim order according to which attending demonstration is permitted only in 1,000 meters from one’s place of residence.

In the meantime, the infection rate in Israel remained very high, despite several days of lockdown.

The Ministry of Health updated Wednesday night that the number of Corona patients in critical condition rose to 834, a new record since the outbreak in February. The number of patients on life support is 211.

Another 22 Israelis died from the virus in the past 24 hours, and the total number of deaths now stands at 1,569.

Some 7,040 people were diagnosed with the virus in the past day. 52,000 people were tested, and the positive rate stands at a high 13.5%.

To date, 245,494 Israelis have contracted the virus, of whom 174,506 have recovered.

Kiryat Gat Mayor Aviram Dahari issued an apology and vowed to remove dozens of signs posted across the city on Tuesday depicting a map of Israel excluding Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights.

The signs, showing a map of Israel with the pre-1967 borders alongside the text “Kiryat Gat – Israel’s New Center!” were posted by the municipality as part of a citywide PR campaign.

The signs were first noticed by the pro-Israel watchdog organization, Im Tirtzu, which launched an email petition encouraging its more than 230,000 Facebook followers to demand that the city fix the signs.

Several hours later, Kiryat Gat Mayor Aviram Dahari issued an apology on the municipality’s official Facebook page.

“Dear Im Tirtzu, I would like to thank you for drawing our attention to the issue of the map of the Land of Israel that appeared on signs throughout the city,” wrote Dahari.

“The Land of Israel, the land of our forefathers that our ancestors dreamed of, includes all the parts that you mentioned in your letter. With God’s help, we will fix the signs accordingly.”

Despite the apology, commenters on social media demanded further action.

“That’s it? Just like that? Who is responsible for the advertisement? What’s his excuse? Did you look into it?” wrote a resident of the city.

“Such a disgrace. I hope someone gets sent home for making such a ‘mistake,'” wrote another resident.

Matan Peleg, chairman of the Im Tirzu movement, stated before the apology was issued that “removing the heart of the country from the map of Israel, both physically and in a deep value sense, is an unparalleled shame. Intentional violation of the right of the state to exist in this country is a serious, unacceptable anti-Zionist act.”

“No mayor in the State of Israel has the right to erase from the map of Israel the cradle of its culture and also to draw a map that ignores half a million Israeli citizens living in those areas. This is a disgraceful and degrading step. shame,” he added.

An IDF unit on Monday night detected and arrested four armed terrorists near the Israeli community of Elon Moreh, in Samaria.

The terrorists were armed with firebombs.

The IDF stated that it spotted several suspects near the village of Izmut, near Shechem (Nablus). IDF troops were alerted to the spot, commenced with an arrest procedure that included firing into the air, and arrested the suspects who were found to be armed with Molotov cocktails.

The suspects were taken for questioning by the security forces.