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Israeli man wounded in Gush Etzion stabbing

[ssba]

A 28-year-old Israeli man was moderately wounded yesterday after being stabbed in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank.

Tomer Ditur had been jogging on a well-known pathway between the communities of Elazar and Neveh Daniel when he was attacked. Despite receiving stab wounds, he managed to reach the entrance of Neveh Daniel in order to alert authorities and was transported to a hospital in Jerusalem for treatment. The attacker is thought to have escaped towards the nearby Palestinian village of Nahalin. Israeli security forces closed off all roads to the village, allowing people to pass only for humanitarian reasons. One media report suggests that three arrests were made during the night and the suspects were handed over to the Shin Bet security service.

Since October, Israelis have been attacked by Palestinians on a near-daily basis, killing at least 30 Israelis during this period. The violence has mainly taken the form of knife and vehicle attacks which appear to be uncoordinated. The Gush Etzion region has been a particular focus of the attacks, with several deadly incidents having taken place in a region where Israelis and Palestinians live in close proximity to each other.

Also yesterday, a 13-year-old Palestinian girl was arrested in possession of a knife at the entrance of another Gush Etzion community, Karmei Tzur, suspected of planning to carry out an attack. During recent weeks, two Israeli women have been killed in stabbings within West Bank communities. Meanwhile, last weekend, a makeshift synagogue was burned down near Karmei Tzur, in what is thought to have been an arson attack.

In another incident yesterday, a teenage Palestinian girl was arrested after attempting to stab Israeli border police at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City. No injuries were reported and the assailant was handed over to police. Last week, at the same location, three Palestinian terrorists opened fire, killing a 19-year-old border policewoman.