A stabbing attack was prevented Thursday evening in Jerusalem, after Police and Border Police officers on patrol along the light rail line in the Shuafat neighborhood of east Jerusalem found a butterfly knife on the body of an Arab-Israeli teen.The 16-year-old was boarding a bus towards the Damascus Gate of the Old City when he aroused suspicion. Authorities searched the boy's belongings and found a butterfly knife on his person. He was taken for questioning shortly thereafter.Initial investigations indicate that the teen, a Jerusalem resident, was intending to attack police.This incident comes days after a Palestinian man stabbed and slightly wounded a Jewish youth near the Old City’s Damascus Gate in east Jerusalem before being overpowered and arrested by Border Police officers after a short pursuit on foot.According to Ch. Supt. Asi Aharoni, spokesperson for the Jerusalem Police District, a team of Border Police officers were on special patrol outside Damascus Gate at around 9:30 a.m. on Monday when they heard shouting coming from Hanevi’im Street nearby. The officers ran to the scene and saw a suspect who had just stabbed a Jewish man in the back and was fleeing toward Ben Shadad Street.Aharoni said the assailant tossed his knife to the ground as police closed in, but it was later retrieved.
The attacker, described by police as a resident of the West Bank in his 20s, was taken for questioning by the special investigation branch of the Jerusalem Police, Aharoni said.The victim, described as a haredi youth, was slightly wounded. He was treated by paramedics at the scene before being taken to Sha’arei Zedek Medical Center for further treatment.