The makeshift dagger found on a teenager in east Jerusalem on Tuesday. Photo: Israel Police.

An Arab teenager in east Jerusalem was caught with a makeshift dagger on Tuesday, according to a report in the Israeli news website 0404.

The boy, approximately 15 years old, was stopped by Israeli detectives in the Old City, when he aroused their suspicion for walking behind a group of police officers.

A body search uncovered the “dagger” fashioned from the kind of wooden ruler used in math class – a weapon the teen intended to use in a stabbing attack, 0404 said.

Jerusalem District Police Commander Doron Turgeman praised the detectives and other security forces deployed throughout Jerusalem for “maintaining a high level of attentiveness and vigilance, which is responsible for preventing injury to innocent people.”

The incident comes amidst a wave of Palestinian stabbing attacks sweeping Israel in recent weeks.