A 26-year-old Palestinian stabbed three Israeli soldiers in a broad daylight attack Tuesday on a main street in Gaza and was swiftly shot to death by two other soldiers nearby.
One soldier’s left lung was punctured. He was on the danger list after undergoing chest surgery at Sheba Hospital near Tel Aviv.
The two other soldiers sustained light to medium wounds.
The attack occurred on Nasser Street in the western part of town just before noon.
The assailant was identified as Abdul Latif Obeid, a resident of the Shati refugee camp in Gaza. Brig. Gen. Shmuel Zucker, military commander of the Gaza Strip, said the soldiers who shot him acted properly under the circumstances.
Obeid was found to have no record of security offenses. His motive for attacking the soldiers was not established. Friends described him as a devout Moslem who was to be married Thursday.
The incident triggered scattered clashes between Israeli soldiers and residents of the Shati camp.
In the West Bank town of Hebron, soldiers seriously wounded a 60-year-old Arab man, according to Arab sources.
He was identified as Abdallah Hamdan, former director of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in Hebron. He was reportedly shot for not obeying orders. The Israel Defense Force said it had no report of the shooting.
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