Terrorist wounds soldier, seizes his rifle in Kiryat Gat; Female attacker shot after knifing man in Jerusalem.
By BEN HARTMAN, DANIEL K. EISENBUDUpdated: OCTOBER 8, 2015 00:43Terrorist apprehended after stabbing Israeli in Petah Tikva (Video: Eliran Edri)
Palestinian terrorists attacked Israelis across the country on Wednesday, jarring residents from Kiryat Gat to Petah Tikva, and wounding close to a dozen people.An Israeli man was stabbed and badly wounded in Petah Tikva in the first stabbing attack in the Gush Dan area since the recent wave of violence began.The Shin Bet said 25-yearold Tamer Yunes Ahmed Varidat, a resident of Dahariya in the West Bank, got off a bus and stabbed a 25-yearold Israeli man before he was apprehended by bystanders.Varidat had no prior arrests or security record, the Shin Bet said. He was taken into custody for questioning by security authorities.The Israeli victim suffered moderate injuries and was taken to the nearby Rabin Medical Center - Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva for treatment.Video taken of the incident shows the attacker standing on the sidewalk pacing back and forth after stabbing the Israeli, before passersby tackled and held him down until police arrived.The attack took place in the early evening outside the Kenyon Hagadol – the city’s largest shopping mall, on Jabotinsky Street, one of the busiest thoroughfares in central Israel.It was the sixth attack in the country of the day.It was soon followed by an attempt to run down border policemen at the a-Zaim security checkpoint near Ma’aleh Adumim. One of the troops shot the driver, a Palestinian man, wounding him moderately.He was treated for his injuries at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
Two Israelis wounded in the incident were taken to Hadassah-University Medical Center on Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus.In yet another incident, a Jewish Israeli man was listed in stable condition after being stabbed in the back of his neck by a female terrorist near Jerusalem’s Lion’s Gate in the Old City. The Israeli shot and wounded his assailant.Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said surveillance footage showed the 18-yearold woman following the 35-year-old man as he entered the Old City via Damascus gate at approximately 10:30 a.m.“She closely followed him, and when she had the opportunity, the footage shows her stabbing him in the neck from behind,” said Rosenfeld.“He was armed, and was able to draw his weapon and shoot the female terrorist at close range.”Rosenfeld said Border Police officers stationed some 20 yards away rushed to the scene to assist the man and cordon off the area, before both the victim and assailant were treated by Magen David Adom paramedics.“The man was admitted to Hadassah-University Medical Center in Ein Kerem in stable condition, and the terrorist was in critical condition, but will likely live,” said Rosenfeld.In Jerusalem’s Abu-Tor neighborhood, a 15-year-old Arab boy was arrested after attempting to stab police on patrol. No one was wounded in the incident, Rosenfeld said.In Kiryat Gat, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed a soldier, lightly wounding him, then stole his rifle and fled, police said. The attacker, who Israel Police named as Amjad al-Jundi, 20 from Yatah in the West Bank, then burst into the home of a Kiryat Gat woman and tried to stab her with a knife from her kitchen.The woman, Liat Ohana, told reporters she saw her life pass before her eyes when al-Jundi burst into her apartment.Ohana told Channel 2 that she had stood up to close her front door and an Arab man with an assault rifle pushed his way in and began shouting at her in Arabic.“Right away I understood this is a terrorist,” Ohana said.The attacker realized the gun he stole didn’t have a magazine and then made his way into her kitchen to grab a knife, she said.By then Ohana and her mother had rushed out of the apartment with the attacker in close pursuit. The terrorist grabbed her and tried to stab her, but she broke free and he then ran back to the apartment.“We just kept running. I looked death in the eye and thought I’m not going to make it out alive”, Ohana said in the television interview.Special patrol officer “M” said that he and two other members of his unit were driving home from a training exercise when they received a call about an attack in process.When they made it to the third floor they found an apartment with its door open and M said they called out to the attacker who told them “get away” in a thick Arabic accent.M said that one of the other two officers saw that the man was armed and the officer then waited on the stairwell with his gun trained on the door. M said the attacker opened the door and pointed his gun at him, at which point he shot al-Jundi, who later died of his wounds.Al-Jundi did not have a permit to be in Israel legally, police said.Late Tuesday night, police seized 15 firebombs found on the roof of an Arab residence in the Jerusalem neighborhood of A-Tur.“This is an important find of firebombs that can endanger our forces,” said Aviad Katafi, the chief superintendent and commander for Jerusalem’s Border Police, in a statement after the arsenal was found and its owner arrested.Rosenfeld said police remain on heightened alert in and around the Old City, and throughout the capital.“Security assessments were made this afternoon, and further police operations are taking place in the Old City, including extra units and patrols stationed in different Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem,” Rosenfeld said.Israeli Arabs protested and rioted across the country on Wednesday night after a day full of terrorist attacks. In Umm al-Fahm, dozens demonstrated, with some youths throwing firebombs. Police arrested seven suspects.Dozens of residents of the central city of Lod protested at Palmah Square on Wednesday, with some of them throwing stones at police. An officer was lightly wounded by stones, police said, but the protest was dispersed and five people were arrested.In Jaffa, police arrested two youths after they threw stones at a bus, causing damage.No one was hurt.In Upper Nazareth, a stone was thrown at a bus, causing minor damage. No one was injured. Police were searching for suspects.Also on Wednesday evening, dozens of Jews protested in Kiryat Gat, Petah Tikva, and Bat Yam in reaction to the terrorism wave, Channel 2 reported.