Jewish woman stabbed in suspected terror attack in Rahat

After the stabbing police set up roadblocks in the area and sent large numbers of officers to search for the man in and around the city.

By BEN HARTMAN
Updated: FEBRUARY 7, 2016 01:41
Scene where woman stabbed in town market in Rahat. (photo credit: RAHAT SPOKESMAN)
Scene where woman stabbed in town market in Rahat.
(photo credit: RAHAT SPOKESMAN)
Police in the Southern District have launched a search for a man who stabbed a Jewish Israeli woman in a suspected terrorist attack in the Beduin city of Rahat on Saturday evening.
According to Southern District police, a woman in her 60s was shopping at the local market in Rahat when an unknown assailant stabbed her in the neck and fled the scene on foot. The woman was moderately to seriously wounded and was taken to Beersheba’s Soroka University Medical Center.
After the stabbing, police set up roadblocks in the area and sent large numbers of officers to search for the man in and around the city.
Not long after the incident, police said that it appears the stabbing was a terrorist attack, but that the investigation is still ongoing. It remains unclear if the assailant was a local Beduin man or a Palestinian from the West Bank living or working in the area.
Magen David Adom paramedic Gil Eskabetz said that when he arrived at the scene he found a 65-year-old woman lying fully conscious on the sidewalk, as relatives of hers provided her with first aid. Eskabetz said that on the way to the hospital, she told them that she was shopping at the market with her family when she was attacked.
MDA said earlier that paramedics found her with a single stab wound to her upper body.