An Israeli man was moderately injured in a knife attack at a light rail station in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening, police and medics said.
According to police, the suspected terrorist, a 14-year-old Palestinian, was shot dead at the scene by an off-duty border police officer.
The knife attack occurred at the Shivtei Israel light rail station outside the Old City.
The attacker from East Jerusalem’s Beit Hanina district stabbed a man with a large kitchen knife at the train station. Other civilians at the station tried to disarm the stabber and scuffled with him.
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Police said the border police officer was on board the light rail when he saw the fight and realized it was a terrorist attack. He got off the light rail and immediately opened fire on the stabber, police said.
“I identified the terrorist with a knife held up trying to stab people while the train was moving,” said Staff Sgt. “Mem” – identified only by his rank and first initial in Hebrew – told border police chief Brik Yitzhak, who quickly reached the scene while attending a Selichot prayer service nearby.
“When the train stopped and the doors opened, I got out, loaded my weapon and fired several shots while several civilians hit the terrorist,” the official added.
A knife used by a Palestinian attacker in a knife attack at Jerusalem’s Shivte Israel light rail station on August 30, 2023 (Courtesy)
Eldad Bar Kochva, one of the civilians who tried to disarm the terrorist, told Kan public broadcaster that he was sitting at the station with his wife when the stabber carried out the attack.
“He pulled out a large knife and came to stab us. I don’t know how to explain it, but I kicked him really hard, he flew back two meters and the knife fell out of his hand. I didn’t even manage to jump on him and the policeman already came and killed him,” Bar Kochva said.
Footage from the crime scene showed the suspected terrorist lying on the ground with the knife next to him.
First responders said the wounded Israeli, in his 20s, fled to a nearby street after being stabbed in the back.
Ambulance service Magen David Adom said its doctors found the man and took him to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in the capital with moderate injuries.
Shaare Zedek officials said the victim arrived at the hospital fully conscious and in stable condition.
Police said a large number of officers arrived at the scene.
Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai hailed the border police officer who shot the stabber, saying he had prevented a “more serious attack”.
“In commitment [the stabber] Risking his life, the border police officer managed to neutralize the terrorist and prevent an even more serious attack. “His quick and professional response demonstrates the vigilance of our armed forces in continually preventing and thwarting terrorist attacks,” Shabtai said in a statement, adding that he wished the victim “a speedy recovery.”
The attack came as tensions remain high across the region as a series of Palestinian attacks have taken place in Israel and the West Bank since the start of the year, killing 27 civilians and two soldiers and seriously wounding several others.
According to a Times of Israel tally, 176 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank during the same period – most of them in clashes with security forces or in attacks, but some were innocent civilians and others were killed in unclear circumstances, including by armed Israeli settlers.
Earlier on Wednesday, two Israeli bus drivers were slightly injured after Palestinians threw stones at their vehicles on the Route 55 highway in the West Bank.
MDA said its doctors treated the two men, aged 48 and 30, and took them to Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba.
One suffered minor injuries to his arm and shoulder and the other to his face, MDA said. Both were listed in good condition.
The couple was attacked near the village of Nabi Ilyas in the West Bank, rescue service Rescuers Without Borders said.
On Wednesday morning, a Palestinian man was shot and seriously injured by Israeli troops after he allegedly rammed them with his vehicle near the southern West Bank city of Hebron. One soldier was slightly injured.