An Israeli teenager was lightly hurt in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City on Monday afternoon, and the alleged Palestinian assailant — also a teenager — was arrested, police and medics said.
The victim, 17, told medics he was stabbed in the back while walking near the Chain Gate entrance to the Temple Mount before managing to flee toward the Western Wall.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said its medics treated the teen near the Western Wall and took him to Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem. He was listed in good condition.
Police said officers arrested the alleged stabber, a 14-year-old Palestinian from the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, who initially fled the scene and hid on the Temple Mount.
Law enforcement officials described the stabbing as a terror attack.
The knife allegedly used in the stabbing was found by officers near Chain Gate.
Police detain an alleged Palestinian stabber, 14, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, February 13, 2023. (Israel Police)
Chief of police’s Jerusalem precinct, Doron Turgeman, held an assessment at the scene following the attack.
The stabbing came as tensions were high in the region, especially in Jerusalem, following a string of Palestinian terror attacks in recent weeks that left 10 people dead and several more seriously hurt.
Three Israelis, including two brothers aged six and eight, were killed in a car-ramming attack Friday.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said he instructed police to prepare for a major operation in East Jerusalem starting Sunday following the Friday attack, although other government officials said he didn’t have the authority to do so on his own.
