Stabbed guard's condition stabilized

Palestinian attacker stabbed guard at Kalandiya checkpoint, flees the scene.

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
soldier kalandia298 88aj (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
soldier kalandia298 88aj
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
The security guard who was stabbed in the neck by a Palestinian man Wednesday evening at a security checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem was upgraded from very serious condition to stable on Thursday morning, hospital officials said. After doctors performed an "extreme procedure," the man began to show progress and the threat to his life abated. The 45-year-old guard, who was seriously wounded in the attack at the Kalandiya checkpoint, was rushed to Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Hospital at Ein Kerem. The guard, a civilian security employee, had approached two Palestinian men who had walked up to the checkpoint on foot and started to talk to them, when one of the Palestinians suddenly pulled out a knife and stabbed him, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. The guard managed to fire in the air before collapsing on the ground. The assailant fled the scene, but the accomplice in the attack was apprehended on the scene. Police originally said that the attacker, said to be in his 20s, had been arrested on the scene, but it later emerged that he had succeeded in fleeing the heavily guarded crossing into Jerusalem. The area in question, located just north of the city, has been the scene of repeated stabbing attacks. Last year, a 20-year old Israeli soldier, Nir Kahana, was stabbed to death by a Palestinian attacker at the site.