East Jerusalem residents charged over stabbing of haredi man

Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office files indictment against residents over stabbing near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Police walk near Jerusalem's Damascus Gate 390 (R) (photo credit: Ammar Awad / Reuters)
Police walk near Jerusalem's Damascus Gate 390 (R)
(photo credit: Ammar Awad / Reuters)
The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office on Monday filed an indictment with the Jerusalem District Court against Sultan Abu Humus and Mahmoud Rajbi for involvement with a stabbing near the Damascus Gate on July 16, which was also the Jewish day of mourning Tisha Be’av.
According to police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld, at approximately 9:30 p.m. Moshe Limai, a haredi Israeli man in his thirties, was accosted by the two suspects, who proceeded to stab him in the abdomen.
In the indictment, and a press release sent by the prosecution, Limai was stabbed multiple times and wounded in his chest, waist and hand by a third suspect who is in police custody, but has not yet been indicted. Limai was walking home from the Western Wall via Damascus Gate.
“A large number of police units are actively searching different areas around Damascus Gate for the suspects who carried out the attack,” the police spokesman added.
Limai was subsequently rushed to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in a moderate condition.
The third suspect’s name is under a gag order pending completion of the investigation.
According to the indictment, Humus pushed Limai aside, assisting the third suspect in extricating himself after Limai had tried to grab him.
Rajbi served as a lookout, the indictment alleged, and told others that the “coast was clear” of security forces who might come to stop their attack.
The indictment said that the alleged attackers were motivated by nationalistic and anti-Israeli ideology.
Humus was charged with attempted murder and obstruction of justice.
Rajbi was charged with causing severe bodily injury with intent and under aggravated circumstances.
Tensions among Arabs and Jews were heightened during Tisha Be’av and Ramadan after hundreds of Jews were denied entry to the Temple Mount earlier in the day in observance of the annual day of mourning, following threats of Arab rioting.
Daniel K. Eisenbud contributed to this report.