Israeli soldier kills stabber before dying in mall attack

An Israeli soldier shot dead an attacker who stabbed him and another serviceman in a mall Wednesday before dying of his wounds in the latest attack linked to Gaza war tensions, media reports said.

A police spokesman told AFP that an Arab Israeli stabbed the two soldiers in the mall in the northern town of Karmiel. Police said it was a “suspected terror attack”, the latest in a series since the war on Hamas started on October 7.

A video widely shared on social media showed the attacker chasing the young soldiers, repeatedly stabbing them both before one of them regains his composure and opens fire with a rifle.

The spokesman confirmed that one of the soldiers shot dead the assailant but could not say whether it was Sergeant Aleksandr Iakiminskyi, who was pronounced dead on arrival in hospital.

The Ynet news website and other media said it was Iakiminskyi, 19, who managed to open fire before collapsing from his wounds.

The second soldier, who has not been named, was in serious condition in hospital.

Police Northern District commander Shuki Tahauka told reporters that the assailant was “neutralised” at the mall and that security measures had been tightened in the region following the attack.

The accused assailant came from the village of Nahf, near Karmiel.

The Hamas militant group that is fighting Israel in Gaza hailed the attacker as a “hero” and said his action was a “natural response” to the suffering of people in the Palestinian territories.

The knife attack came amid soaring tensions in Israel’s Palestinian community as the Israel-Hamas war rages in the Gaza Strip. At least 16 people have been killed in attacks in Israel since October 7.