West Bank Stabbing Leaves Two Israeli Soldiers Wounded

The Palestinians allegedly stabbed and wounded one Israeli soldier in Huwara, 9 km south of Nablus, wounding him lightly, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

Earlier an Israeli soldier was stabbed at the main bus station In Jerusalem where many soldiers catch buses back to their bases after a Shabbat break at home.

Twenty Israelis and a US citizen have been killed in a campaign of stabbings, shootings and car-rammings since the start of October.

A number of Palestinians have attempted attacks with kitchen knives in what some analysts have described as virtual suicide missions.

The soldier injured in the car-ramming was 20 years of age and sustained light wounds before being taken to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, according to Israeli media. ‘The terrorist pulled out a knife and tried to stab the policeman and was quickly killed by police gunfire.

“The second soldier opened fire, firing four bullets at the man, after that they tried to give him first aid”, said Jamil Dawoud, who reported that he was in the vehicle behind the alleged attacker.

The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the death of the young Palestinian man, who was later identified as Mos’ab Mahmoud al-Ghazali, 26, from Wad Qaddoum neighborhood in Silwan town, in occupied Jerusalem.

The Palestinians disputed the Israeli military’s account of the incident.

The man’s identity wasn’t published, but police said he was a Palestinian from the Ramallah area who had entered Israel illegally. Most others have been killed in clashes with security forces.

Israeli leaders blame the Palestinian Authority for incitement to violence due to religious motives, sparked by tensions over the flashpoint holy site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in east Jerusalem. The Palestinians say it is rooted in frustrations stemming from almost five decades of Israeli occupation.