Terror attack thwarted in southern Israel

Israeli security forces on Monday morning thwarted a stabbing in the southern town of Netiv Ha’asara, located in the northwest Negev along the border with the Gaza Strip.

Magen David Adom emergency medics treated a woman in her 60s at the scene for acute anxiety.

The terrorist was neutralized by the community’s rapid response team, according to the Israel Defense Forces, which confirmed that the attacker was a foreign national who arrived there from within Israeli territory and not from the Gaza Strip. Israeli media identified him as a Canadian citizen who had arrived at the community in a rented car.

He got out of the vehicle at the entrance to Moshav Netiv Ha’asara armed with a knife and attempted to stab a member of the local emergency team.

“The IDF is killing civilians in Gaza,” the terrorist reportedly yelled before being shot.

No security personnel were injured during the incident.

The assailant entered Israel on a tourist visa on Sunday, added the reports.

Canada’s Global Affairs Department told JNS on Monday night that Ottawa was “aware of an incident involving a Canadian citizen in Israel.

“Consular officials in Israel are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information and are providing consular assistance. Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed at this time,” the statement added.

Last week, four Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded, including two seriously, in a car ramming near the central Israeli city of Lod.

The commander of the Israel Police’s Central District, Supt. Avi Biton, told reporters that “the terrorist ran over several Israelis at a bus stop, continued a few hundred meters and carried out another run-over attack.”

The assailant, identified as 26-year-old Muhammad Shahab from the Kafr Aqab neighborhood of northeastern Jerusalem, was neutralized by officers.

The Hamas terror organization hailed the attack as a “heroic operation,” but stopped short of taking responsibility.

Earlier this month, an Israeli soldier was killed and another seriously wounded in a terrorist stabbing in a shopping center in the northern city of Karmiel.

The slain victim was identified as IDF Sgt. Aleksandr Iakiminskyi, 19, from Nahariya. He served as a driver in the 188th Armored Brigade’s 71st Battalion.