Israeli man lightly injured in West Bank stabbing attack

An Israeli man was stabbed in the face and lightly injured in a terror attack Tuesday south of Jerusalem, police said.

Border Police officers began sweeping the area after the terrorist fled the scene of the attack.

Initially, police said the motive behind the assault was unclear, but later declared the stabbing a terror attack.

“Following an investigation of the event and a review of the findings at the scene, the Israel Police believes this was a nationalistically motivated stabbing attack,” police said in a statement.

The attack occurred near the bypass tunnel next to the Palestinian town of Beit Jala, northwest of Bethlehem.

Eyewitnesses said the Israeli man was attacked when he walked out of a store in the area, according to one of the medics who treated the victim.

Video footage from the scene showed the man exiting the shop and approaching his car before the terrorist runs up behind him and begins stabbing him.

The 30-year-old victim was treated on the scene by medics from the Magen David Adom ambulance service and the Israel Defense Forces, who worked to stop the bleeding and bandage his wounds.

He was then transported to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem, an MDA spokesperson said.