Two people were wounded, one critically, in a terrorist attack in the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday morning. The terrorist, a 19-year-old resident of the Palestinian Authority, was shot dead by police.
Reports indicate that the terrorist entered the Old City at around 6:20 a.m. through the Damascus Gate and attacked the first victim, a man about 50 years of age, on a side street near the entrance. He then fled the scene, spotted a 16-year-old yeshivah student in the Old City’s Jewish Quarter and stabbed him in the back. Police responders caught sight of the knife-wielding attacker and shot him dead.
The first victim, who was stabbed in the head and neck, was evacuated to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zeked Medical Center in near-critical condition. Reports indicate that he was admitted to intensive care unconscious and breathing with the aid of a respirator.
“Together with other EMS volunteers, I treated a man with a stab wound in his upper body,” said United Hatzalah volunteer Mordechai Oved. “After receiving initial treatment at the scene, the man was transported to the hospital for further care in serious condition.”
The father of the second victim told Reshet Bet radio that his son had been walking back to the yeshiva from the Hurva Synagogue, where he had gone to pray in the morning after studying at the yeshivah all night. The boy, who was with his brother at the time of the attack, ran back to the Hurva and cried for help.
He was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital with light to moderate wounds.
Police spokesman Micki Rosenfeld confirmed the terrorist had been killed at the scene, saying, “Police units that responded at the scene saw the attacker with a knife. The attacker was shot and killed by police units.”
The attack was carried out on the last Friday of the Muslim religious month of Ramadan.
Police said additional forces had been sent to the Old City in the wake of the attack.
