IDF Unit: Nachal Brigade
Situation: Routine checks on Palestinian population for weapons.

The following is based on a radio interview this morning on IDF radio (Galei Tzahal) between the checkpoint commander and Radio interviewer, Razi Barkai.

The checkpoint commander is a 22 year old officer from the Nachal Brigade -- his unit took over the checkpoint for the first time yesterday. Corporal Michal Ya'akov, from the IDF military police is also assigned to the checkpoint. The checkpoint commander said the following incident lasted 8 seconds.

Start your clock now

A "16 year old" (that's about how old he looked) Palestinian approaches the IDF checkpoint.

1 second

Michal notices "he seems very nervous...was looking from side to side....his shirt looked bulky."

2 seconds

He goes through the metal detector and it beeps. Michal asks what is under his shirt.

3 seconds

He raises his shirt, displaying 3 pipe bombs strapped to it.

4 seconds

Michal yells out, "Explosives in the Checkpoint", and all soldiers immediately follow the protocol for a terrorist at the checkpoint. The checkpoint commander, about 10 feet away, instinctively chambers a round into his M16 and aims it at the youth's head.

5 seconds

Michal yells at the Palestinian youth to keep his hands high over his head.

6 seconds

His hands waver.

7 seconds

He lowers his hands towards the pipe bombs strapped to his chest.
The checkpoint commander fires, shooting the terrorist directly in the head.

8 seconds

The terrorist starts to fall to the ground, with his hands still reaching for the pipe bomb. Checkpoint commander fires another 3 rounds into the terrorist's head -- taking special care not to shoot at the body of the terrorist, but only the head, to prevent the pipe bombs from exploding.

Final Result; One Dead Terrorist. No injuries to IDF soldiers. No terror attack against Israelis.

Eight Seconds; it could have ended very differently.

For an article with slightly less accuracy than the above post (based directly on the radio interview with the checkpoint commander), here's the way YNET reported it.

IDF kills terrorist at West Bank checkpoint

Soldiers manning Hawara checkpoint shoot dead Palestinian carrying four pipe bombs. Army: We thwarted a terror attack

Efrat Weiss
Published: 05.19.08, 22:00 / Israel News

A 20-year-old Palestinian carrying four pipe bombs was shot dead Monday evening at an IDF checkpoint located south of Nablus in the West Bank.

At around 7 pm soldiers manning the Hawara checkpoint spotted the Palestinian as he was making his way toward them in a suspicious manner with wires protruding from underneath his clothes.

Corporal Michal Ya'akov of the military police recounted the incident: "A young Palestinian who seemed confused arrived at the checkpoint. When he reached the turnstile I stopped him and asked that he pass through the metal detector. The apparatus beeped when he went through. I asked him what it was that he had on his body."

According to Ya'akov, the Palestinian responded by saying 'nothing' in Arabic while lifting his shirt and exposing the pipe bombs, which were strapped to the right part of his body.

"I identified the explosive devices and yelled 'explosives in the checkpoint' and cocked my rifle. Everyone (soldiers) aimed at Palestinian's head and neck so as not to set off the explosive device," she said.

Ya'akov said she then ordered him to lift his shirt up. "The Palestinian raised his arms up for two seconds, then pulled them down and reached for the explosive device," she said. At this point the checkpoint commander shot the man dead.

An IDF source told Ynet that "we definitely thwarted a terror attack. The Palestinian constantly 'played' with the explosive devices in order to activate them and harm the soldiers at the site."

Sappers who were dispatched to the scene removed the explosive devices from the Palestinian's body.

The Hawara checkpoint has seen several terror-related incidents in the past. A week-and-a-half ago a Palestinian was caught there with a 6-inch knife.

In April a Palestinian teenager was detained by soldiers manning the checkpoint after a makeshift pipe bomb was found during a search of his belongings. Sappers conducted a controlled-detonation of the device.
In another incident that occurred last November, two teens were caught at Hawara with a bag containing three makeshift explosive devices.