Tapuah Junction stabbing ( 2010 ) The Tapuah junction stabbing occurred on February 10 , 2010 in the West Bank when Palestinian Authority police officer Muhammad Hatib stabbed Druze Israeli soldier Ihab Khatib to death as the latter was sitting in a jeep at a traffic light . The attack . Khatib was on his way from Jenin to a military outpost near the Tapuah junction , and was sitting alone in his jeep with the window open , waiting at a traffic light . Hatib , wearing civilian clothes , approached , pulled out a knife , reached through the window and thrust the knife into Khatib ’ s chest . Khatib tried to escape by pressing down on the gas pedal , but his jeep flipped over on the side of the road when he lost consciousness . He died en route to the hospital and was buried the following day in his home village . Meanwhile , Hatib tried to flee by car , but Yossi Margalit , a security officer for the Rechelim settlement who was nearby , rammed his own car into him , causing light wounds . Hatib was arrested by Israeli soldiers and given medical attention . He was then transferred to the Shin Bet for questioning . The victim . St . - Sgt . Maj . Ihab Khatib ( 28 ) was a Druze Arab non - commissioned officer from the mainly Druze village of Maghar in the Galilee . He served as a logistics officer in the Kfir Brigade . He was survived by his parents and five siblings . His uncle had been killed in action while serving in the Israel Defense Forces during the 2006 Lebanon War , and his aunt had been killed when a Katyusha rocket fired by Lebanese militant group Hizbullah hit her house . The perpetrator . Muhammad Hatib ( 34 ) was a long - serving Palestinian police officer , and at the time of the incident was the head of bureau for the Palestinian Authority ' s chief of Police in Ramallah . Israeli Brigadier General Nitzan Alon , who had contact with the killer shortly after the incident , reported that Hatib had " said he was tired of living " and that the subsequent investigation failed to reveal any signs of " organisational affiliation or of clear ideological reasons , " linking the act to militant groups or a larger plot . Media reports suggested " this was an indication Mr . Khatib may have hoped he would be killed as he carried out the alleged attack . " Military sources also reported that Hatib appeared to be pursuing a military target , " since he waited on the side of the road when he could have attacked Israelis at a nearby hitchhiking post . " Response . Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad denounced the attack , stating that it " conflicts with our national interests " , and pledged to take steps to prevent such incidents in the future . However , an Israeli government source said that while the Palestinian Authority had made marked improvements in its security apparatus , it was more hesitant in dealing with extremists in its own movement . The attack came amid an increase in Palestinian attempted terror attacks and Israeli settler attacks . According to IDF Samaria Brigade commander Col . Itzhik Bar . " Since the beginning of 2010 , IDF troops have prevented 20 stabbing attacks and uncovered 12 bombs , " he said . Simultaneously , in the preceding months , radical Israeli settlers launched attacks on their Palestinian neighbors , including setting vehicles , homes , and a mosque on fire . The shooting is cited in newspaper editorials demanding greater security for Israelis in the West Bank .