An alert customer shot dead a terrorist who tried to set off an explosive device in a supermarket a few minutes ago in Efrat. The town is in Gush Etzion, a block of Jewish communities in Judea, south of Bethlehem.
At least one small explosion did take place, leaving one customer lightly wounded but causing no casualties, said Jerusalem Post reporter Margot Dudkevitch. Nails from one of the explosions littered the floor.
Further tragedy was averted when a woman shopping in the packed supermarket apparently saw the terrorist trying to set off a second explosion and shot him twice in the head from close range.
A police source told Israel Radio the terrorist apparently intended to detonate a small bomb in the supermarket and then blow himself up with the explosive belt when police forces came to the scene.
The terrorist was a Palestinian who had a permit allowing him to work in Efrat, Israel Radio reported. Sources in Bethlehem revealed the terrorist was Muhammad Ashimali, 22, from the village Adoha, south of Bethlehem.
Ashimali wanted to be a martyr, his father said.
___________________