Career soldier, 51, killed in stabbing in south; terrorist shot dead by victim
Stabber identified as Israeli citizen originally from Gaza; footage shows Chief Warrant Officer Uri Moyal getting up after being attacked, opening fire
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
A senior non-commissioned officer in the Israel Defense Forces was fatally stabbed in a terror attack at a gas station in southern Israel on Thursday. The assailant, an Israeli citizen originally from the Gaza Strip, was shot dead by the victim.
Another three people were slightly wounded.
The attack took place inside a branch of the Aroma coffee chain at Beit Kama Junction, just north of Beersheba.
Surveillance camera footage from the attack showed the assailant approaching Chief Warrant Officer Uri Moyal from behind, pulling out a knife and stabbing him in the back. Amid a struggle, the terrorist was seen attempting to also stab Moyal in the neck. The pair then fell to the ground, as another man was seen trying to pull the knife from the terrorist’s hand.
Moyal was seen managing to get up, then opening fire at the terrorist with his handgun, before collapsing outside the cafe.
Warning: graphic content
Moyal, 51 from the southern city of Dimona, served as a senior technology and maintenance NCO at the Nahal Infantry Brigade’s training base.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it took the victim to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead shortly upon arrival.
The terrorist, a 22-year-old resident of the southern Bedouin city of Rahat, was killed.
He was identified by the Shin Bet security agency as Fadi Abu Altayef, an Israeli citizen from Rahat, but originally from the Gaza Strip. Abu Altayef’s mother is from Rahat and his father is from Gaza. They currently both reside in Gaza, according to the Shin Bet.
Abu Altayef grew up in the Gaza Strip until the age of 18, according to police. He was given Israeli citizenship in 2019 after getting married to an Israeli woman.
Police said officers raided Altayef’s home in Rahat and “collected findings for the investigation.”
The investigation of the attack was to be carried out by police and the Shin Bet.
The attack came a day after a Palestinian stabbed a soldier and a security guard at a West Bank checkpoint near Jerusalem.
Tensions in Israel and the West Bank have been high since October 7, when some 3,000 terrorists burst through the Gaza border into Israel in a Hamas-led attack, killing at least 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and seizing 253 hostages.
Israel responded with an aerial campaign and subsequent ground operation with the goal of destroying Hamas and ending its 16-year rule over Gaza and securing the release of the hostages.
The Israel Defense Forces has continued to operate throughout the West Bank and police have been on high alert in Israel, in light of concerns about a possible escalation of violence, especially recently during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
