An Israeli woman, 42, was lightly wounded in the leg by shrapnel during an attempted stabbing attack near the Lions Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City on Saturday. The terrorist, identified by Palestinian media as Maher Za’atreh, was shot dead after running towards Border Police officers armed with a knife.
The wounded passerby, whose name was not released, was evacuated to Shaare Zedek Medical Center after Magen David Adom medics and paramedics provided medical treatment on the scene.
“The injured woman lay close to the gate, fully conscious with a bleeding wound to her leg. She told us that she was walking by at the time of the attempted stabbing and was injured when the attacker was neutralized,” said MDA paramedic Yanai Levi. “We provided her with medical treatment – including stopping the bleeding, bandaging and pain relief, and we evacuated her to hospital. She was in stable condition.”
Earlier this month, an Arab-Israeli man was shot dead by Border Police officers after he opened fire on them at the Lions Gate.
Security video footage showed the gunman walk up to a group of officers under a tent and firing a pistol. One officer was hit in the shoulder and collapsed, while the others returned fire.
The shooter was identified by Hebrew-language media as Shadi Bana, 45, from Haifa. He had recently converted from Christianity to Islam.
The attacks came as tensions continue to be high surrounding the release of US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan in late January. Clashes have occurred daily between IDF troops and Palestinians in the West Bank since the plan’s rollout.
Five Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire and dozens of IDF troops have been wounded.
A video published on Friday during clashes in the West Bank village of Kafr Kaddum showed an IDF armored bulldozer pushing large rocks towards Palestinian protesters during weekly demonstrations.
The three short clips show dozens of Palestinians hurling rocks towards the bulldozer and IDF troops. The bulldozer is seen pushing the large rocks which had been placed on the street by local residents, stopping when one man is hit by one of the stones.
One child is seen almost hit by rocks after they continued to tumble down the street.
Two Palestinians, Mo’men Shtewi, 9, and photojournalist Mohammad Enaya, 28, were wounded by the rocks, while four others were injured by rubber-tipped bullets, and 34 sickened by tear gas inhalation. Enaya was transferred to Darwish Nazzal Hospital in Kalkilya in moderate condition for medical treatment.
“I can’t find words to explain. I just want to say that my son survived near death, because of big rocks pushed by an Israeli bulldozer during clashes,” said Murad Shatawi, the father of the child who was almost struck by the rocks at the scene.
The IDF said in response that some 70 Palestinians participated in the riot, during which they rolled burning tires and hurled stones at IDF soldiers.
The video, they claimed, had been edited to make the bulldozer appear as if it was driving at high speed towards the rioters.
“The video was filmed at a sharp incline and was sped up by editing at a speed greater than the original,” it said. “Forces who worked to disperse the riot, as they do each Friday, identified a stone barrier placed at the entrance of the village in order to prevent forces from arriving at the scene, and in order to allow the riot to continue in the nearby town.
The military said the bulldozer was used to clear the stones from the road, and “while doing the clearing, mass stone-throwing took place,” leading commanders to order it to pull back. Because the bulldozer changed directions, the rocks it had been moving were pushed towards the Palestinians.
Also on Friday, an IDF soldier was lightly injured after a rock was thrown towards troops by Palestinian rioters in the village of Nabi Saleh near Ramallah. The soldier was transferred to Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer in Ramat Gan for medical treatment.