Afula stabbing victim Shuva Malka remains ‘in serious but stable condition’
Malka being treated in HaEmek Medical Center’s intensive care unit after surgery; alleged West Bank Palestinian attacker’s remand to be extended
Shuva Malka, the 18-year-old woman who was stabbed and seriously wounded in the northern city of Afula on Monday in an apparent terror attack, remains “in serious but stable condition,” the HaEmek Medical Center in Afula said Tuesday.
The hospital said Malka was being treated in its intensive care unit after undergoing surgery immediately after the attack.
The remand of her suspected attacker — a Palestinian man in his 20s from the northern West Bank city of Jenin — was set to be extended Tuesday in the Nazareth magistrates court, police said in a statement.
The suspect, who initially fled the scene and was arrested after a brief manhunt, will not attend the hearing. He is in the hospital, as police shot him in the leg after he ignored calls to stop running.
Police said Monday that they were still investigating the motive for the stabbing, but were working under the assumption that it was a terror attack.
עפולה :הרגע בו ירו השוטרים בחשוד בדקירת תלמידת התיכון בעפולה . pic.twitter.com/i3b92jR1mW
— |فرات نصار|פוראת נסאר|FURAT NASSAR (@nassar_furat) June 11, 2018
“The main line of investigation is that this was a terror attack, however, the investigation is continuing, in order to rule out other motives,” the police spokesperson said.
Later in the day, Hebrew media reported police were closer to determining that the attack was nationalistically motivated.
Shuva Malka, from the northern city of Migdal Ha’emek, was on her way to a matriculation examination in civics when the stabber approached, her mother, Michal, told Hadashot news on Monday.
Michal Malka said her family now expected an “unequivocal” response from the government to ensure that children could walk the streets safely.
Calling her daughter’s survival “a miracle,” she called on the population to pray for her full recovery.
Malka was stabbed shortly before noon on the street and collapsed outside a local coffee shop, police said.
“When we arrived at the scene, it was very chaotic. There was an 18-year-old girl sitting on a chair at the entrance to a store. She was conscious and suffering from multiple stab wounds to the upper body,” one of the medics who treated her said.
She was taken to the nearby HaEmek Medical Center in serious condition, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service.
The Palestinian suspect, reportedly from the West Bank city of Jenin, was in Israel without a permit, police said.
Videos of the suspected terrorist’s arrest were quickly posted to social media by bystanders.
