Officer stabbed in Old City attack said to improve
Doctors say critically wounded policeman is ‘slightly’ better, but remains in life-threatening condition
A border policeman critically wounded in a stabbing attack Sunday morning at Jerusalem’s Old City has been showing signs of improvement, doctors said on Monday.
Dr. Ofer Marin of the city’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center said the condition of the 20-year-old officer, who suffered from multiple stab wounds to the neck and chest, including one near his heart, had “improved slightly” after he came out of emergency surgery Sunday evening.
Merin said that the officer’s life remained in danger, and that doctors were hoping to wake him from the medically induced coma in the coming days.
Yasser Yassin Tarwa, 18, from the West Bank town of Sa’ir near Hebron, was also hospitalized with life-threatening injures after the officer he stabbed managed to shoot him before collapsing.
Tarwa was evacuated to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital and was said to be in critical condition. He is sedated and on a respirator.
Hamas praised Sunday’s attack, though it did not take credit for it, as photos published online indicated the assailant was a member or sympathizer of the Islamist movement.
The Facebook page of Hamas website al-Resalah.net posted two photos of 18-year-old Tarwa from the town of Sa’ir near Hebron. In one, Tarwa is seen wearing a Hamas scarf and headband, and camouflage pants.
Tensions have been on the rise between Palestinians and Israelis with the start of the month-long Ramadan holiday last week. Following the attack, Israeli officials ordered a number of punitive measures against Palestinians, including revoking work and travel permits issued especially for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The stabbing, which took place shortly after 10 a.m. near Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City, followed a deadly shooting attack claimed by Hamas near the Israeli settlement of Dolev on Friday. The killer of Danny Gonen, 25, has not yet been apprehended.
