BICOM

Four Israeli civilians were injured yesterday, two seriously in two separate knife attacks in cities in central Israel.

While stabbings have been carried out on an almost daily basis in the West Bank during the past ten days, especially in Hebron, yesterday saw attacks return to Israel’s pre-1967 borders following a brief lull. The first incident took place in Rishon Le Zion, south of Tel Aviv. A 19-year-old Palestinian man from Hebron first stabbed a 35-year-old man, who was seriously wounded in the torso. The spree continued in the city’s adjacent commercial area, where the assailant stabbed a 26-year-old man in the leg, before stabbing and seriously wounding an 80-year-old woman.

The attacker was only stopped when a shop-keeper shut the door to prevent him from entering and he was then tackled by passers-by, who restrained the terrorist until police arrived on the scene.

Just hours later, a 22-year-old Palestinian man from Tulkarm arrived in the central city of Netanya, north of Tel Aviv and stabbed a 70-year-old man who was seriously wounded. The attacker was pursued by police who arrived on the scene almost instantly and eventually shot and injured the assailant in the courtyard of a nearby block of flats. A passer-by reportedly tried to attack the injured terrorist and was arrested by police for attempted assault.

Yesterday’s attacks are the latest in a month-long wave of violence, which has seen 12 Israelis killed. Although Jerusalem was the initial epicentre of the unrest, Israelis have also been attacked in other central cities including Beit Shemesh and Ra’anana. Prior to yesterday though, the focus of the violence had shifted almost entirely to the West Bank during the last ten days.

In other incidents yesterday, a Palestinian was shot and killed after he tried to stab soldiers at the Jalame crossing in the Gilboa region. Meanwhile, Israeli police uncovered an improvised explosive device in a Palestinian car in the West Bank.