Border Police said they foiled a stabbing attack outside the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the flashpoint city of Hebron Monday evening.
Officers noticed the suspect, a female Palestinian in her twenties, approaching an IDF inspection post gripping a knife, officials said.
They then startled her from behind, causing her to drop the weapon.
The woman, a resident of the West Bank village of Yatta, was detained and taken for further investigation by security officials.
Attempted stabbings against security forces and worshipers are common in the city, particularly near the religious site, holy to both Judaism and Islam.