Assailant stabs two Israeli soldiers near army base, stopped by civilians

Jerusalem: An assailant on Tuesday stabbed two soldiers near an Israeli army base and tried to grab a weapon from one of them before being restrained by civilians, the army said. The suspect was arrested after the attack near the military base at Tzrifin, a junction close to Beer Yaakov on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, police said. The assailant was only identified by the police as a resident of the Hebron area of the occupied West Bank. In a statement, the Israeli army said one soldier was severely wounded and another lightly wounded when the suspect attempted to “snatch the weapon” of the first soldier. “While injured, the soldier lay over his weapon during a physical struggle with the terrorist, until the terrorist was stopped by civilians” who arrived on the scene, it said. “The wounded soldiers were evacuated for further medical treatment,” the statement added. First responders from the Magen David Adom emergency service said they had taken two people in their 20s to the hospital in “mild and moderate condition” respectively. In 2003, at the height of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, nine soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing at a bus stop near the base. The stabbing follows a spate of deadly incidents that ended a period of relative calm since the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began nearly two weeks ago. On Monday, two Palestinian militants were killed in an Israeli raid on the West Bank city of Nablus. On Saturday, three Israelis were wounded in a West Bank car-ramming attack. Soldiers killed the alleged perpetrator. Less than 24 hours earlier, Israeli police shot dead an Arab Israeli who they alleged had grabbed a policeman’s gun and opened fire in the Old City of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. The dead man’s family disputed the police version of events. Since the start of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of at least 91 Palestinians, 15 Israelis and one Ukrainian, according to an AFP tally based on official sources from both sides. On the Palestinian side, the figures include combatants as well as civilians. On the Israeli side, they include two members of the Arab minority. Read all the Latest News, Trending News,  Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.