Israel Police on Wednesday said that a terror attack in Jerusalem was foiled last week.

In a statement, Israel Police said that officers operating in Jerusalem's Old CIty noticed a suspicious individual and detained him. Upon searching the suspect, the officers found a knife and tear gas.

The suspect is a 26-year-old Arab resident of Hevron. He was immediately arrested and taken to the police station, where he was interrogated.

During the initial interrogation, the suspect claimed that he entered pre-1967 Israel in order to "pray."

Police investigators suspected that he was hiding something, and expressed doubt as to his intentions. The interrogation was therefore transferred to the central unit.

Further investigations, which were conducted under a gag order, raised suspicion that the suspect entered pre-1967 Israel illegally carrying a knife and tear gas, in order to carry out a stabbing attack against civilians and security forces in Jerusalem.

The court extended the suspect's arrest until Monday in order to allow police to complete the investigations against him.