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A woman looks at a member of the Israeli security forces on July 3, 2015 (AFP/Abbas Momani, File)
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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- A Palestinian woman was detained Saturday after reportedly attempting to stab an Israeli soldier at a military checkpoint in the Jordan Valley area of the occupied West Bank, Israel’s army said.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that a “suspect approached a soldier with a knife in hand” before being “apprehended” and taken for questioning.

The identity and age of the woman has not yet been confirmed.
Alleged, attempted, and actual attacks carried out by individual Palestinians on Israeli military and civilians have increased over the past two months.

Friday, two Palestinians were killed after injuring Israeli soldiers in separate "car ramming" attacks. It was the latest incident to take place in a violent week that left 13 Palestinians and two Israelis dead since Sunday alone.

Saturday’s incident marked the first time the Israeli army reported an attempted stabbing in the Jordan Valley since Oct. 1, according to Ma’an reports. The majority of recent attacks have been carried out in areas surrounding Jerusalem, Hebron, Nablus, and Ramallah.
The woman was detained at the Bekaot checkpoint, located on Highway 57 north of the illegal Hamra settlement. The road connects Palestinian areas separated by Israeli-controlled Area C in the Jordan Valley.

A Palestinian man was shot dead at the checkpoint in June 2015 after opening fire on Israeli soldiers stationed in the area.
The majority of the Jordan Valley is under full Israeli control, and Palestinian residents face frequent demolition of their property as well as ongoing Israeli military presence.

Earlier this month, Israeli officials informed residents of the Fasayil village that all structures built in the village since August would be demolished they did not leave the area within a week.

In August, Israel’s civil administration demolished 17 structures in the village, displacing 48 Palestinians, 31 of whom were minors, according to Israeli rights group B’Tselem.

Humanitarian organizations had since assisted residents in erecting tents for shelter, while one family permanently left the village, the group said.