A knife-wielding Palestinian stabbed and seriously wounded an Israeli police officer before being shot dead in annexed east Jerusalem on Monday, the police said in the latest violence to flare as Israel deepens its military offensive in Gaza.
“A terrorist from east Jerusalem armed with a knife arrived at the Mandelbaum gas station in Jerusalem,” police said in a statement, saying the man “stabbed a border police officer, and after grabbing his gun and trying to shoot it, fled the scene”.
“Border police officers at the scene neutralised the terrorist with gunfire,” it added.
A spokesman later confirming to AFP the assailant was dead. Police did not give details about his identity.
Shaare Zedek hospital confirmed it was treating a man in his 30s with “stab wounds to the torso”, describing his condition as “serious but stable”.
Israeli forces have stepped up their ground offensive in Gaza as part of the military response to the October 7 Hamas attacks that officials say killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, with another 239 people taken hostage.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 8,306 people, mainly civilians, have since been killed in Israeli air and ground strikes.