Israeli killed in terror stabbing attack in West Bank
Victim named as Itamar Ben-Gal, 29; assailant at large after fleeing scene outside the settlement of Ariel
An Israeli man was killed on Monday afternoon after he was stabbed in the chest in a terror attack outside the West Bank settlement of Ariel, the army and medics said.
He was identified as Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal, 29, a father of four from the nearby settlement of Har Bracha.
Video from the scene showed the Palestinian attacker crossing a road toward Ben-Gal, who was standing in front of a bus stop, and stabbing him.
Ben-Gal then fled across the street with the stabber in pursuit.
The military said an IDF officer identified the terrorist and pursued him, hitting with his vehicle, but he managed to flee. “IDF troops are searching the area,” the army said.
The Magen David Adom emergency service and army medics treated the victim at the scene in the northern West Bank settlement.
Medics tried to resuscitate Ben-Gal, who was stabbed repeatedly in the chest, medics said.
He was taken to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikvah, but died of his wounds, the hospital said.
His funeral was called for Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Har Bracha.
Speaking at a Likud faction meeting in the Knesset, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the terrorist would be captured.
“We will bring him to justice, as we always do. I put my trust in the security forces who do the hardest work against these reprehensible attacks,” he added.
In a statement late Monday evening, Ben-Gal’s wife Miriam said she lost her husband “on the land of Israel”
“I am here in my home, a home that my husband will not return to. Tomorrow we will bury him here in Har Bracha, a community that he loved dearly and wanted to develop. ”
Ben-Gal is the second Israeli to be killed in an attack in the West Bank in under a month.
On January 9, Rabbi Raziel Shevach, 35, was fatally shot near Nablus in the northern West Bank.