Police hunt suspect in attempted Jerusalem stabbing attack

Police were searching for a suspect in a reported attempted stabbing attack Saturday in Jerusalem’s Old City after an Israeli man told police that an Arab man tried to stab him on Nablus Road in the capital.

The Israeli told officers that he was walking on the road when he heard some yelling and turned around to find an Arab man wielding a knife. According to his account, he fought off his would-be attacker, who then fled in the direction of Damascus Gate, tossing the knife as he did so.

The Israeli man reportedly handed the knife over to police, who launched a search for the suspect.

The incident came the morning after two Israeli parents and their three young children were wounded in a firebombing attack on their car near the settlement of Beit El, in the West Bank north of Jerusalem.

The family members suffered burns of various degrees. The youngest girl, aged four, was moderately hurt. Her brother, 12-year-old sister and mother and father were lightly injured.

The five were treated at the scene by Magen David Adom medics and evacuated to a Jerusalem hospital for further treatment.

A series of Palestinian attacks on Israelis, and Israeli-Palestinian clashes, have erupted in recent weeks over Palestinian claims that Israel was planning to change the status quo, despite vehement denials from the Jewish state.

Ten Israelis have been killed and dozens injured in a string of terror attacks since the beginning of the month. At least 40 Palestinians have also died, many while carrying out stabbing attacks on Israelis and others in clashes with security forces.