Sunday 17th October 2015
3 Dead (including the terrorist) and 10 injured in bus station attack
An IDF soldier, Omri Levi, was killed and 10 others were injured in the attack at the crowded bus station, when an Israeli Bedouin man stabbed the soldier and then opened fire. Six victims remained hospitalized Monday morning. Police named the terrorist as 21-year-old Muhanad Alukabi of the Bedouin town of Hura, just east of Beersheba.
An Eritrean asylum seeker was also killed during the incident.
The 29-year-old Eritrean national, Haftom Zarhum, died in the hospital after he was shot by police who thought he was a terrorist. Videos from the incident showed him fleeing the scene, only to be gunned down and then kicked repeatedly in the head by bystanders who thought he was a terrorist. Other people tried to protect him from attack as he lay bleeding on the floor.
One of the people who took part in the beating of Zarhum, identified only as Dudu, told Army Radio in an interview Monday morning that “I saw people coming and crowding around him, I understood from them that this was the terrorist.”
“If I had known that this wasn’t the terrorist I would have protected him like I protect myself,” Dudu said. “In a moment of fear and pressure, you do things you’re not conscious of whatsoever.”
He added: “I didn’t sleep well last night and I only thought about those things, I feel disgusting.”
Saturday 16th October 2015
Palestinian girl attacks policewoman
The policewoman was standing at the checkpoint at the entrance to the base near the Tomb of the Patriarchs when the Saturday morning attack occurred.
“The terrorist approached the post and asked for directions to a certain place in the area. I told her the name did not sound familiar and that she should ask the locals when she arrived, when to my surprise she pulled out a knife and tried to stab me in the neck,” said the sergeant, who has been identified only as M.
The attacker only managed to hit M’s vest, causing minor injuries to the policewoman’s hand. “I took a step back and I shot the terrorist without hesitation,” M said, according to Channel 10 news. “I responded like any fighter in the Border Police would have done.”
She added: “I do not take pleasure in the fact that the incident ended in this way and not without casualties.”
The attacker was identified as 16-year-old Bian Asila, from Hebron.
IDF Soldier stabbed in Hebron, attacker shot
A Palestinian stabbed an IDF soldier in Hebron on Saturday evening, in the third such attack in the city, a frequent flashpoint where a few hundred Jews live in close proximity to tens of thousands of Palestinians.
The soldier was lightly to moderately wounded and evacuated to Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem, the IDF said. The attacker was shot at the site by two soldiers, Walla said, and died shortly after reaching hospital. The Shin Bet security service named the attacker as 16-year-old Tareq Netsha from Hebron, who had not previously been known to the security forces.
Palestinian attempts to stab a police officer before being shot dead
A Palestinian tried to stab a Border Police officer at the Qalandiya checkpoint that leads from the West Bank into Jerusalem. The policeman was unhurt as the knife was blocked by the body armor he was wearing.
Israel Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the policeman shot and wounded his attacker, then killed him after the attacker tried again to stab him again as he attempted to take the knife away.
Palestinian lunges at Israeli with knife before being shot dead
A Palestinian man died of his wounds after being shot by an Israeli man he had tried to stab in a Jewish area of Hebron. The attacker was identified by Palestinian and Hebrew media reports as Fadel Muhammad Kawasmeh, 18, a resident of the city.
Palestinian teen attempts to stab border police officers before being shot
Also Saturday, a Palestinian teenager was shot dead in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood when he tried to stab Border Police officers. There were no reports of injuries among the security forces.
According to the IDF, the teen was stopped for routine questioning in the capital amid heightened tensions, before pulling out a knife and attempting to stab the officers. He was later identified by Palestinian media as Muataz Awisat, 16, from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber.
Jewish man wielding 2 knives shot dead by officers in Bat Yam
According to police, on Saturday afternoon they were called to the scene of a brawl between a number of suspects in their 30s that began on Yitzhak Sadeh Street and then continued onto nearby Barzilay Street.
In a statement on Saturday evening, Tel Aviv police said that officers who arrived at the scene approached one of the wounded men and while they were speaking to him, a man holding two knives “with a threatening look on his face” began to run towards the police. They said that the officer felt his life was in danger and ordered the man to drop the knives and that when he refused, the police officer shot the 34-year-old man.
Friday – 15th October
Palestinian posing as journalist stabs soldier in Hebron
An Israeli soldier was moderately wounded in a stabbing attack near the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba near Hebron on Friday.
The Palestinian attacker posed as a photojournalist, and was wearing a yellow “press” vest at the time of the attack, according to the IDF.
The attacker was shot dead by soldiers at the scene.
“The Palestinian assailant disguised himself as a news photographer and attacked the soldier, wounding him moderately.
The soldier was evacuated for emergency medical care. Forces on site responded to the threat, shot the attacker, resulting in his death,” the IDF said in a statement Friday afternoon.
The Foreign Press Association condemned the incident as a “worrying development” and called on all “Palestinian media organizations to immediately verify all media credentials.”
“We utterly deplore this violation of press privilege and call on local Palestinian media organizations to immediately verify all media credentials to ensure there are no violations,” the FPA said in the statement.
