BICOM

A 30-year-old Israeli woman was stabbed and wounded by a 23-year-old Arab woman in the central Israeli city of Rosh Ha’ayin yesterday afternoon.

The attack took place in the industrial area of the city. The victim had left a work meeting when she was confronted by the attacker, who produced a large knife and stabbed the woman in the hand. The assailant repeatedly attempted to stab the woman again, who protected herself with her bag and screamed until passers-by came to her aid. A security guard and bystanders subdued the attacker, who was not injured and was taken by police for interrogation. She was found to be a resident of the nearby Arab town of Kfar Kassem.

The victim was taken to hospital in Petach Tikva for treatment. She is quoted by Ynet saying, “I couldn’t imagine something like this could happen to me in Rosh Ha’ayin. I’m still in shock that I joined the statistics” of terror victims.

It was the latest incident in near-daily attacks since October, which have killed at least 31 Israelis. Although the violence was initially focused on Jerusalem and the West Bank has also become an epicentre for such incidents, attacks have taken place throughout Israel, including central cities such as Tel Aviv, Ra’anana and Petach Tikva. Also yesterday, a Palestinian man pulled a knife when confronted by Border Police officers at the Tapuach Junction in the West Bank. The man was overpowered and arrested without any shots being fired.

Yesterday’s stabbing in Rosh Ha’ayin was the first attack in nine days. IDF figures released yesterday showed a significant drop in attacks in March. There were six terror incidents during the month, including stabbings, shootings and vehicle attacks, compared to 56 in February, 45 in January, and 40 in December. However, 23 fire-bombings and 220 rock throwing incidents were recorded in March, similar numbers to those in both February and January.