Israeli soldiers killed an Arab driver at a Gaza roadblock Wednesday afternoon, shortly after an Israeli civilian was stabbed in the Gaza marketplace. The victim, Shabtai Shvilli of Ashkelon, sustained a knife wound in the back of his neck but was not badly hurt. He was taken to a hospital in Ashkelon.
He was the third Israeli in two months to be stabbed while shopping in Gaza. The two earlier victims, Yisrael Kitaro and Haim Azran, also from Ashkelon, were fatally wounded. The authorities believe the same assailant was responsible for the three attacks.
It was not immediately known it there is a connection between the stabbing and the incident at the road-block, where the driver was shot dead when he failed to respond to signals to stop. Military sources said the soldiers were following standing orders. They fired into the air, then at the tires of the vehicle before they fired at the driver, the sources said.
A passenger in the car, not injured, was held for questioning.
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