Violence Rocks Jerusalem as Border Police Officers Stabbed, Firebombed

Israeli border police officers and rescue forces carry a wounded Israeli border police officer at the site of where a Palestinian terrorist stabbed an Israeli border police near Damascus Gate, Jerusalem Old City, August 26, 2015. The injured border police is in a light condition. (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Wednesday marked a day of terrorist violence in Jerusalem as a Border Police officer was stabbed by a Palestinian man and several firebombs were hurled at a Border Police vehicle in a Palestinian neighborhood.

A Palestinian terrorist, yelling and wielding an axe, approached a group of Border Police officers on patrol near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City. He attempted to stab one of the officers but missed. The terrorist ran away and was pursued by the officers. During their struggle to subdue him, the terrorist managed to stab one officer and injure him lightly in the leg.

Security forces arrested the terrorist, who was identified by the Israeli Police as a convicted killer imprisoned for the murder of Menahem Stern in 1989, but set free in 2013 in a round of Palestinian prisoner releases.

A few hours following the stabbing attack, several firebombs were thrown at a Border Police vehicle in East Jerusalem’s A-Tur neighborhood on the Mount of Olives. One of the firebombs hit the vehicle, setting it on fire. The policemen managed to escape, but the fire spread to nearby cars.

The day of violence marks the latest evidence of a sharp uptick in terrorist attacks in the nation’s capital.

According to official statistics compiled by the Ministry of Construction and Housing, the number of attacks for June and July indicate an average of close to 10 terror attacks per day in the Old City basin alone. This area includes the Old City, the Mount of Olives, the Silwan (Shiloah) neighborhood and the City of David.

In June and July, a total of 580 terror attacks were documented against Israeli civilians and security forces, including 477 rock attacks and 28 firebomb attacks against vehicles and Jewish homes. Additional incidents involved throwing glass bottles, setting off fireworks, vandalization of Jewish graves and damaging property.