An IDF soldier, 21, was seriously wounded Friday morning after a Palestinian man stabbed him and struck him in the head with a stone at a military post on the outskirts of Beit El, a settlement in the West Bank.
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According to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, "a fight broke out between the soldier and the assailant, who stabbed the soldier and struck him with a rock from a short distance. Evidence in the field indicates that the assailant was also injured in the struggle. The incident is still being examined. IDF troops are searching the area."
The soldier was evacuated to Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.
The attacker managed to infiltrate the settlement and attack the soldier before fleeing the scene.
Eye witnesses said the assailant surprised the soldier from behind, before hitting him with a stone. "One resident saw a man strike a soldier in the head with a rock, before escaping the scene. She immediately called the police," an eyewitness said.
Scene of the attack in Beit El
The Friday attack comes a day after a wave of violence left two IDF soldiers dead and four other people wounded .
At around 5am Thursday, two Border Police officers were lightly hurt in a pre-dawn stabbing in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The attacker, heading from the direction of the Damascus Gate drew a knife, jumped a Jewish man on Hagai Street, and tried to stab him. After he failed to do so, he ran towards two Border Police officers who were stationed nearby and tried to stab them as well.
One of them shot and killed the assailant, a 26-year-old resident of the West Bank.
Hours later, Sergeant Yosef Cohen, aged 19 from Beit Shemesh, and 20-year-old Staff Sergeant Yovel Moryosef from Ashkelon were shot dead when a gunman opened fire as they stood guard at a bus stop next to the outpost of Giv’at Asaf. Two others - a soldier and a civilian - were seriously wounded in the attack. The gunman fled the scene, sparking a massive manhunt for him and any accomplices.
The soldier who was wounded in the attack is still in critical condition and receiving treatment at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the condition of the civilian who was seriously wounded in the attack improved Friday morning.
The third attack came a short time after, when an IDF soldier was lightly wounded in a car-ramming attack in Al-Bireh, northeast of Ramallah. The driver was shot dead by forces on the scene.
According to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, security forces arrested overnight Thursday 40 wanted Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorist activities and violent disturbances, 37 of whom are known Hamas operatives.
In addition, soldiers from IDF's elite Duvdevan unit and Border Police's counterterrorism unit Yamam were operating deep inside Palestinian territories throughout Thursday to increase pressure on the terrorist group behind the attacks. Yet no arrests have been made.