Soldier killed in stabbing attack in southern Israel

The attack took place in the afternoon in a commercial area near the town of Beit Kama, in the south of the country.

An Israeli soldier, victim of a knife attack on Thursday, March 14, in the south of the country, died from his injuries after killing his assailant, the Israeli army announced.

Non-commissioned officer aged 51, “Uri Moyal (…) was killed during an attack at the Beit Kama crossroads”, the army said on its website. The attack took place in the afternoon in a commercial area near the town of Beit Kama, in the south of the country.

“The first results of the investigation showed that a terrorist entered the restaurant, stabbed a soldier who returned fire and neutralized him”, said the police. Kobi Arush, a police spokesperson in southern Israel, later told AFP that the attacker was dead. Seriously injured, the soldier was evacuated to Soroka hospital in Beersheva, by the Magen David Adom (MDA), the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross.

The attacker had obtained Israeli nationality

According to the head of the Israeli police, Yaakov Shabtai, quoted in a press release, the attacker, aged 23, “grew up in Gaza until the age of 18.” He then moved to Israel, where he got married and obtained Israeli citizenship, he added.

On Wednesday, two members of the Israeli security forces were lightly injured in a stabbing attack committed by a 15-year-old Palestinian at a checkpoint south of Jerusalem, according to police who indicated that the teenager had been killed. These attacks come at a time when a rise in tensions is feared during Ramadan, against a backdrop of war between the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.