A Border Police officer was lightly wounded on Tuesday in a stabbing attack on Route 60 near the tunnel checkpoint at the entrance to Bethlehem on the outskirts of Jerusalem, according to the Israel Police.
The 20-year-old woman was administered medical treatment and transported to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem with minor wounds, according to the Magen David Adom emergency service.
Border Police officers and Israel Defense Forces soldiers shot the assailant after he stabbed the victim with a screwdriver while she struggled to fend him off. The terrorist was later pronounced dead.
He was later identified as Muhammad Rezak Ebrahim Al-Mash, 27, from Dheisheh, a Palestinian camp just south of Bethlehem.
According to the police account, a Jerusalem-bound passenger bus arrived at the checkpoint in the morning. The attack came when passengers disembarked to be inspected and ruled out as suspicious.
In addition to the sharpened screwdriver, the terrorist was carrying a knife. Other suspicious items were found on the assailant’s body.
Jerusalem District Police officers were dispatched to the scene, where they blocked traffic in both directions and conducted searches in the area. The tunnel checkpoint later reopened to traffic.
