Two hurt, one seriously, in stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City
Suspected terrorist shot dead by police officers after severely wounding man near Damascus Gate, injuring a teen near the Hurva Synagogue
Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
At least two people were injured, one of them seriously, in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday morning, officials said.
“Around 6:20 a.m., the assailant entered through the Damascus Gate. He stabbed a man inside and began running from the scene. Along the way, he saw [a 16-year-old boy] and stabbed him as well,” police said.
The suspected terrorist, a 19-year-old Palestinian man from the West Bank, was shot dead by police officers at the scene, a police spokesperson said.
The terror attack occurred on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a period of heightened tensions.
Following the attack, police said they deployed additional troops around the Old City.
The man injured near the Damascus Gate sustained stab wounds to the neck and head, putting him in near-critical condition, medics said.
“I saw a man in his 40s lying on the stairs near the Damascus Gate barely conscious and with stab wounds to the upper body. I gave him first aid — stopping the bleeding — and he was quickly put into a Magen David Adom intensive care ambulance,” one of the medics said.
He was taken to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center for treatment. The hospital said he was unconscious and hooked up to a ventilator.
The second victim, 16-year-old Yisrael Meir Nachumberg, was stabbed in his back inside the walls of the Old City. He ran from the scene toward the Old City’s Hurva Synagogue, where he received assistance.
He sustained light-to-moderate wounds and was taken to Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem, medics said.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Nachumberg told reporters he was riding his bike through the Old City and stopped to examine the wheel when the terrorist lunged at him from behind.
“I thought he punched me,” he said.”And suddenly I saw a long knife full of blood.”
Jerusalem’s Old City has seen a number of stabbing attacks in recent years, but has been relatively calm in the past six months.
On December 13, two Border Police officers were stabbed and lightly wounded in a terror attack in the Old City, before shooting dead their assailant, police and medics said. A male officer was stabbed in the face, near his eye. A female border guard was stabbed in the leg. The attacker, a 26-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank, was shot dead by the officers.
We are praying for the recovery of those injured in this morning's stabbing attack in #Jerusalem.
I am with the families who are at their dear ones' sides in hospital in these difficult hours.— Reuven Rivlin (@PresidentRuvi) May 31, 2019
The most recent terror attack in Jerusalem occurred on February 7, in which a Palestinian man, Arafat Irfaiya, raped and murdered 19-year-old Ori Ansbacher. In March, Irfaiya was charged with committing the crimes in the context of a terrorist act.
