Fourth attack in three days: A 26-year-old Israeli truck driver was stabbed by a Palestinian at the Atarot industrial zone near Jerusalem Thursday morning.
The man, who sustained light to moderate wounds, was evacuated to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem by a Magen David Adom ambulance team.
Troops seal off scene of attack (Photo: Yoaf Galai)
MDA paramedic Yoni silman treated the victim and told Ynet: "We arrived at the scene and saw a stab victim hurt in the neck and bleeding. We stopped the bleeding and rushed him to Hadassah Ein Kerem's trauma unit in moderate condition." Silman said the victim was fully conscious and told paramedics he was attacked by an Arab.
Initially, security forces thought the assailant wrested the victim's weapon away, but later it turned out he did not carry a firearm
The truck driver arrived at a chicken plant in the industrial zone to unload merchandize. He opened the truck doors when suddenly a young Palestinian charged at him, stabbed him in the neck, and escaped.
Security forces were dispatched tot he scene and proceeded to scour the area in search of the assailant with the aid of a chopper.
Wave of attacks
The Atarot industrial zone north of Jerusalem experienced calm in recent years. At the beginning of the intifada the area was the scene of several terror attacks, including shooting attacks in the industrial zone and its vicinity. The terror strikes undermined businesses in the area, but in the last two years the situation improved as no terror attacks took place in the zone.
On Wednesday, Palestinian attackers shot to death one Israeli and seriously wounded another one in two separate shooting attacks in the West Bank.
A day earlier, a Palestinian stabbed a 25-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl at a hitch-hiking post at the Gush Etzion junction. The terrorist sustained serious wounds after troops in the area fired at him.
"In recent weeks we have seen a rise in terror attacks in Judea and Samaria," an IDF source told Ynet Wednesday. "We believe the number of attacks will increase and we will see a new wave of attempted attacks."