Palestinian in ‘press’ jacket killed in stabbing attack on soldier, police say

The alleged attacker was said to be wearing a jacket identifying him as a journalist and holding a camera when he moderately wounded a soldier.

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(JTA) — Israeli security personnel shot and killed a Palestinian man in photojournalist garb who stabbed a soldier, police said.

The terrorist approached the soldier at Zayit Junction, near Hebron in the West Bank. The assailant was wearing a “press” flak jacket and carrying a camera, according to a Jerusalem Post report.

Paramedics said they transported a 20-year-old Israeli soldier with a stab wound in his upper body to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

The attack came as Hamas called for a “day of rage” against Israel as two weeks of violence continued. Approximately 40 people, mostly Palestinians, have died in or as a result of the attacks.

Israel’s Foreign Press Association wrote in a statement that it “utterly deplores this violation of press privilege” and called “on local Palestinian media organizations to immediately verify all media credentials to ensure there are no violations.”

Notwithstanding the current tension in Jerusalem, the association’s statement continued, it “finds the violent behavior by security forces toward foreign journalists absolutely inexcusable and abhorrent.”

Israeli security forces are investigating allegations that troops have assaulted journalists.

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