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HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces detained two Palestinian teenagers for allegedly carrying knives near the Ibrahimi mosque in the Old City of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank on Sunday.

Local sources told Ma’an that Israeli forces stationed near the Ibrahimi mosque detained the two teens after they stopped and searched them.
The two were 14 and 16-years old, and reportedly from the village of Dura near Hebron, locals added.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an they were aware of the arrests, but could not make any further comments as to the nature of the events, as it fell under Israeli border police jurisdiction.

An Israeli border police spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Most recently, Israeli officials claimed to have “thwarted” a stabbing attack outside the Ibrahimi mosque last week after an 18-year-old Palestinian man "aroused suspicions of border guard officers” stationed at an Israeli military checkpoint.

The officers, she said, asked the young man to stop, and when they searched him they found a knife "hidden on his body.”

According to an Israeli police spokeswoman, the suspect was initially questioned on the spot, where he said "he intended to carry out an attack in retaliation for his cousin who was killed in the area about half a year ago after he carried out a stabbing attack.”

The young man was detained for further investigations.

Israeli forces have detained a number of Palestinians for allegedly being in possession of knives in recent months following a spate of attacks by Palestinians which has left some 32 Israelis dead since October.

In the same time period, 220 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers, scores of which have been killed in Hebron. While Israel alleges many of those were attempting to attack Israelis when they were shot, Palestinians and rights groups have disputed Israel's version of events in a number of cases.

The entire Hebron district, specifically Hebron’s Old City, where the Ibrahimi Mosque is located, has been a flash point for the unrest.

Mistreatment of Palestinians in the Hebron area has been common since the city was divided in the 1990s after a US-born settler, Baruch Goldstein, massacred 29 Palestinians inside the Ibrahimi Mosque.

The majority of the city was placed under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, while the Old City and surrounding areas were placed under Israeli military control in a sector known as H2.