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Two hurt in weekend stabbings in Ashkelon and Negev

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A 65-year-old woman and a 20-year-old soldier were both stabbed and lightly wounded over the weekend in separate knife attacks.

The first incident took place on Saturday in the market of the Bedouin town of Rahat in the southern Negev region. Shlomit Gonen, from nearby Kibbutz Mishmar Hanegev, was shopping when she was accosted and stabbed in the neck by a masked attacker. Gonen was treated on the scene before being evacuated to hospital in Beer Sheva, where her injuries were downgraded from moderate to light. Meanwhile, the attacker escaped the scene. Israel Hayom says that the assailant is thought to be a Palestinian illegally residing in Israel.

Following the attack, Rahat Mayor Talal al-Kirnawi said, “We are shocked by the incident. The perpetrator of this criminal act must be punished severely. We will not let anyone destroy coexistence here.”

Yesterday, a 20-year-old soldier was stabbed near the central bus station in the coastal city of Ashkelon. Another soldier saw the incident from a travelling bus, disembarked and took the victim’s weapon before giving chase with members of the public. The attacker was eventually shot and injured, subsequently succumbing to his wounds. The assailant is thought to have been a Sudanese national, named by Haaretz as 20-year-old Kamel Hassan. The victim suffered wounds to his upper body and was taken to a hospital in Ashkelon.

Shimon Portal, head of the Ashkelon District Police told reporters “We are almost certain” that the attack was nationalistically motivated.

The weekend stabbings come during a five-month long wave of almost daily attacks by Palestinians, which have seen at least 30 Israelis killed. Last week, a 19-year-old border policewoman was killed in a coordinated attack by three terrorists near Jerusalem’s Old City.

Meanwhile, Israeli police said yesterday that they suspected arson was responsible for a fire which engulfed a makeshift synagogue near the West Bank community of Karmei Tzur over the weekend. Holy books were destroyed as was the tent structure itself.