Jerusalem stabbers were cousins, 13 and 15 years old
Doctors fight for life of 13-year-old victim, who was attacked as he rode his bike in Pisgat Zeev; 2nd victim in serious condition; older terrorist killed by police
Israel Police identified the two Palestinian teenagers who stabbed and seriously injured 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.
“It was horrifying,” Asi Gabay, a family friend of the younger victim recounted to Channel 2. “The boy ran to me and shouted, ‘Asi, help me! Asi, help me!’
“I had a mop with me and we put it on him as a tourniquet,” Gabay said. “Within a few seconds the kid lost consciousness, was completely white and was lying on the ground.”
The boy 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.
In the evening, doctors said the surgery may have saved his life, but he was still in very serious condition, having lost a great deal of blood. They praised Magen David Adom for the speed with which the boy had been evacuated to the hospital, with one of the surgeons telling Channel 2 that he would likely not have survived otherwise. He also happened to arrive at the hospital as doctors were changing shifts, and therefore all the key surgical personnel were available to treat him.
The second victim was said to be in stable yet serious condition. Doctors said he suffered two stab wounds to his upper body.
According to police, the 13-year-old attacker stabbed the boy as he was riding his bike. When eyewitnesses began to run toward the scene of the attack, the assailants fled. While escaping, the younger one was hit by a car and seriously injured.
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An Israel Police officer and Border Police officer eventually caught up with the second attacker, who began running toward them with a blade in his hand. A police spokeswoman said the officers fatally shot him after he ignored their calls to halt.
An eyewitness described the assailants to Channel 2 as being young teenagers armed with “machetes.”
A video posted on social media appeared to show the younger of the two teens writhing in a pool of blood on the tracks of the Jerusalem Light Rail, surrounded by police. The video was filmed by an Israeli passerby who shouted “Die! Die, you son of a whore” repeatedly at the teen before he was administered first aid from Magen David Adom paramedics. Police ordered the man to leave the scene.
Earlier on Monday, 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 outside Lions’ Gate after he pulled out a knife.
Less than an hour later, 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 she held in her hand. The officer then shot the assailant. She was evacuated to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus with moderate injuries.
A number of attackers in a spate of stabbings over the last two weeks have been in their late teens and early 20s, and two have been confirmed as minors so far. In addition to Khatieb, 16-year-old Ishak Badran from East Jerusalem stabbed two people near the Old City’s Damascus Gate on Saturday.
Police have bolstered their presence around Jerusalem’s Old City and other areas around the capital in an effort to clamp down on a spate of terror attacks, which have become a daily occurrence over the last week.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
