BICOM

An Israeli man in his forties was seriously injured yesterday when he was stabbed by a Palestinian man in Hebron. The attack led to clashes between Jewish and Palestinian residents of the city later in the day.

The stabbing took place yesterday afternoon near the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a site holy to both Jews and Muslims which houses both a mosque and a synagogue. The assailant was named by Palestinian sources as 21-year-old Ihab Fathi Miswadi, from Hebron. He apparently attacked the passer-by and was then shot dead by nearby Border Police forces. The victim received multiple stab wounds to the upper body and was evacuated to a Jerusalem hospital where he remains in critical condition.

The knife attack triggered a march later in the day by several dozen Jewish residents towards Hebron’s Old City, in order to protest the attack. They hurled rocks at local Palestinians who threw rocks back at them. Israel Radio reports that Israeli security forces successfully kept the two sides apart and no injuries were reported.

Hebron, situated in the southern West Bank, has been a particular flashpoint during the current wave of violence, which has seen at least 21 Israelis killed since the start of October. On Saturday, a Palestinian woman was arrested near the Tomb of the Patriarchs after she pulled out a knife. The day before, an Israeli soldier was lightly wounded in a stabbing in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron. The two attackers, cousins aged 16 and 19 were shot dead at the scene.

Meanwhile, overnight a Palestinian man is reported to have been killed by IDF gunfire during clashes in the Dehaishe refugee camp near Bethlehem in the West Bank. Israeli forces are thought to have entered the camp in order to arrest local terror suspects, but faced violent opposition while carrying out the arrests. A local man Malik Akram Shaheen, thought to be aged between 19 and 21, was named as having been killed in the clashes.