A 51-year-old Israeli man was seriously wounded in a stabbing attack near the community of Itamar in the West Bank on Thursday after he reportedly joined efforts to extinguish a fire believed to have been deliberately set in the area.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, two assailants attacked the civilian and stabbed him in the upper body while he was helping fight the blaze. The victim was evacuated to hospital in serious condition, while the two attackers were killed at the scene.
The incident was reported at approximately 12:15 p.m. An initial investigation indicates that civilians had gathered to help contain the fire when the attackers approached and carried out the stabbing.
Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics, together with IDF medical personnel, provided life-saving treatment before evacuating the victim to hospital.
“While providing medical cover at the scene of a fire, civilians called out that a man had been stabbed,” MDA emergency medical technician Israel Arbus said. “We immediately ran to him and found a 51-year-old man with stab wounds to his body. We controlled the bleeding, provided life-saving treatment, and evacuated him in serious condition together with IDF medical personnel. Two Palestinian assailants were neutralized at the scene.”
Following the attack, Israeli security forces imposed a closure on the nearby Palestinian village of Beit Furik and launched a search of the area. Police from the West Bank District began collecting evidence and investigating the incident, while District Commander Deputy Commissioner Moshe Pinchi traveled to the scene.
Meanwhile, firefighters continued battling the blaze near the Derech Avraham Farm. Fire and Rescue Services said crews succeeded in preventing the fire from spreading to the farm and were working to extinguish additional fire fronts with the assistance of firefighting aircraft from the “Elad” squadron, police officers and local emergency teams.
Meanwhile, in a second stabbing attack, a suspicious vehicle drove through the Ganim area within the Menashe Regional Brigade on Thursday and approached a military post, where an IDF soldier was stabbed in the leg. Nearby soldiers identified and eliminated the attacker before he could cause further harm.
The wounded soldier, from the Paratroopers Brigade’s 890th Battalion, was evacuated to a hospital for treatment following the attack. The incident marks the latest in a string of stabbing attacks targeting IDF personnel in recent months.