Abbas spokesman: Israel ‘executed’ teen stabber
Nabil Abu Rudeineh calls to arrest security personnel who fired at 15-year-old Palestinian attacker in Jerusalem, compares him to Mohammad al-Dura
Adiv Sterman is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israeli authorities on Monday of “summarily executing” a 15-year-old Palestinian teen who along with his younger cousin stabbed and seriously injured two Israelis in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev earlier that day.
According to the Ynet news site, Nabil Abu Rudeineh also drew a comparison between the killing of the Palestinian teenager and the death of Muhammad al-Dura, the Palestinian child who appeared to have been shot by Israeli soldiers while cowering behind his father in Gaza on September 30, 2000.
“The execution [of the Palestinian teenager] in front of cameras is similar to the killing of a Palestinian boy Muhammad al-Dura during the second intifada,” Abu Rudeineh told the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
Abu Rudeineh went on to urge the Israeli government to arrest the security personnel who fired at the teenage Palestinian assailant, and warned that a further escalation in violence may result in a “loss of control” over regional stability, Ynet reported.
The iconic footage of al-Dura’s death contributed to the October 2000 protests in which 13 Arab citizens of Israel were killed, and was a major catalyst for the second Palestinian intifada uprising and terror wave against Israel.
Contrary to Palestinian claims, Israeli government investigations concluded that it was not possible al-Dura could have been shot at from the direction of the IDF position in the area, and argued he was not killed by Israeli army fire.
Israel Police identified the two Palestinian teenagers who stabbed and seriously wounded two Israelis in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon as cousins, 13 and 15 years old, from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina. The older teen was shot dead by police when fleeing the scene of the terror attack, while his cousin was struck by a car and seriously injured.
The cousins attacked a 13-year-old Israeli boy and a man, 25, gravely injuring them, in the third attack to hit the capital in a single day. The incident took place in the northern neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev, adjacent to a light rail station.
The boy was stabbed multiple times as he rode his bike. He was hospitalized in critical condition. Doctors at the Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus said he suffered multiple stab wounds to his upper body, and underwent emergency surgery.
The incident was one of four attacks on Israeli civilians and security personnel in Jerusalem that day. On Monday night, a Palestinian man allegedly attempted to snatch an IDF soldier’s gun on a bus entering Jerusalem. The alleged assailant was shot dead after stabbing a soldier and an Israeli civilian.
Earlier, an 18-year-old Arab woman stabbed a Border Police officer outside the national police headquarters adjacent to Ammunition Hill on Road 60. The woman was approached by the officer, who said she acted suspiciously. When he was close, she turned around and stabbed him with a knife. The officer then shot the assailant. She was evacuated to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus with moderate injuries.
On Monday morning, 17-year-old Mustafa Khatieb from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber attempted to stab a police officer near Jerusalem’s Old City. The officer, who was wearing a protective vest, was not injured. Khatieb was shot dead by security forces.
Violence raged on Monday in the West Bank as well. In the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba, a teenager was lightly wounded after Palestinians hurled stones and shot marbles out of slingshots at him south of the town’s security fence, Israel Radio reported.
In the West Bank city of Hebron, Molotov cocktails were hurled by Palestinians at an army post. No injuries were reported in the attack, according to Israel Radio.
On Monday night, police said that 70 Border Police officers had been wounded since the onset of the latest escalation in violence.
Judah Ari Gross, Tamar Pileggi, and Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.
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