WarSclerotic

The attacker then fled the scene in the South Hebron Hills and remained at large, as security forces launched a large-scale search.

It is the first time Palestinian terrorists have executed an attack inside a settlement since March 2011 when five members of the Fogel family were stabbed to death in their home in Itamar.

“I want to give strength to all the children of the family. All of us are hurting and share in the painful grief. We will find the terrorist, and he will pay the full price for this heinous murder,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Meir, mother of six, worked as a nurse in the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.

According to an initial security assessment, the terrorist entered Otniel, came the Meir home, and stabbed her to death before fleeting the scene. Security forces set up roadblocks and conducted searches in surrounding areas.

Police said they were checking whether the attacker worked in Otniel, and whether the stab victim prevented him from entering the home, blocking his path at the entrance.

Paramedics at the scene attempted to revive Meir but eventually declared her dead.

A senior MDA paramedic, Noam Bar, who arrived at the stabbing scene, described encountering a difficult scene. “We saw a woman aged around 30 who was unconscious, with no breath or pulse. She suffered from stab wounds to her upper body. We attempted to resuscitate her for a lengthy amount of time, at the end of which, we were forced to pronounce her dead,” he said.

A second MDA paramedic, Haim Rubin, who resides in Otneil, described heartbreaking scene in which the response team had to move the woman’s children to another room as they attempted to save their mother’s life.

“An army force is [currently] pursuing the terrorist,” the IDF Spokesman Unit said in a statement.

The incident comes hours after a Palestinian knife attacker was shot dead while trying to stab Israelis at Hativa Square near Nablus, near the headquarters of the Samaria territorial Brigade. There were no injuries among soldiers in the attack. The attacker was shot dead by a Samaria Brigade unit that was guarding the area.

The IDF has been bracing for the possibility of increased intrusions by terrorists into settlements.

“This will not end tomorrow. The wave of terrorism will continue – no one can predict for how long,” a security source said in recent weeks.

Commenting on the attack, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said “the murder today teaches us again about the kind of cruel and relentless enemy we are dealing with. Security forces – the IDF, Shin Bet, and Israel Police – will place their hands on the murderer and those who sent him, if someone sent him. We will not rest until we settle accounts with the terrorist, wherever he is.”

The struggle against Palestinian terrorism requires Israelis to be “determined, have a hand of iron, alongside patience, and sound judgment, as it places us before a complex challenges. Security forces are working day and night in this struggle, and will strike this terror too, as we have done to past attempts to harm the State of Israel and its citizens.”

President Reuven Rivlin called the South Hebron Hills Council head Yohai Damari and said,“”This is a horrific tragedy, and I am with you with all of my heart. This is shocking and terrible. At this time of grief, disbelief, and pain, I am sure you are focused on doing all that is needed in order to help the family and all the residents of the community.”

Ben Hartman and Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.