(JTA) — A Palestinian assailant used a kitchen knife to stab a man at a light rail station next to Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday, in the latest in a surge in violence in the West Bank and Israel.
A policeman who was on board the light rail car saw the stabbing and exited the train before shooting the assailant dead, the Times of Israel reported.
First responders said the stabbed man was conscious and suffered moderate injuries. “I provided initial treatment to a man who was stabbed in his back, after which he was transported to Shaare Zedek hospital,” said Shlomo Gensler, a physician with the United Hatzalah volunteer group.
“His condition is currently defined as moderate and stable,” Gensler said in a United Hatzalah release. The unidentified victim, who was stabbed in the back, is in his 20s, according to local media reports.
The attack comes amid a surge in violence in the West Bank and Israel, including shooting attacks on Israelis in the West Bank, attacks by Palestinians within Israel and frequent military raids on Palestinian cities. Since the beginning of the year, more than two dozen Israelis and more than 100 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in the violence.
