CCTV footage of a Palestinian terrorist, prior to his stabbing of an IDF officer. Photo: Screenshot.

The Palestinian terrorist who stabbed an IDF reservist on Sunday morning in the West Bank settlement of Efrat was identified a number of hours earlier by security cameras, Israel’s Channel 2 reported.

According to the report, the footage showed the terrorist reaching the outskirts of the Jewish community — located just south of Jerusalem — and hiding behind a bush.

The video led to the dispatch of reserve-duty soldiers to the area to scour it to locate the intruder. During the search, the terrorist jumped on and stabbed an officer — moderately wounding him. This spurred other soldiers at the scene to open fire and neutralize the assailant — who was also moderately wounded.

Both the officer and the terrorist were evacuated to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center/Ein Kerem for treatment.

Channel 2 pointed out that Efrat lacks a security barrier, instead employing an apparatus that combines technological means with IDF cooperation to protect residents from attacks.

“Experience has shown that fences do not prevent terrorist attacks,” said Efrat Regional Council head Oded Ravivi, adding that the mechanism in place in his jurisdiction was what staved off an actual infiltration and a far worse scenario than what occurred.

A representative from Hadassah hospital said that the officer arrived with a stab wound in his armpit.

An IDF spokesperson said that additional searches were being conducted in the area to rule out additional threats.

This was the latest Palestinian terrorist incident over the past 48 hours, with rock-throwing, stabbings and a car-ramming in Jerusalem and Hebron. It is the latest upswing in the surge in violence against Israelis that began last September.

Watch the closed-circuit TV footage below: