Israeli man killed by gunfire aimed at his stabber

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Jewish-Israeli man was killed by gunfire meant to stop his assailant in a West Bank stabbing attack.

Eliav Gelman, 30, an army reservist from Karmei Tzur, was stabbed Wednesday morning at the Gush Etzion junction and then struck by bullets fired by Israeli security forces attempting to thwart the attack, the Israel Defense Forces said. Earlier reports said Gelman, who was wearing his army uniform when he was attacked, was hit by gunfire by an armed bystander.

The Palestinian Maan news agency identified the assailant as Mamdou Yousef Mahmoud Amro, a 26-year-old teacher from Hebron. He was also hit by the gunfire.

Both men were taken to a Jerusalem hospital, where Gelman died. Gelman was a married father of two young children.

The Gush Etzion junction, near the Alon Shvut community, has been the site of numerous terrorist attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians. In November, American yeshiva student Ezra Schwartz was killed in a terrorist shooting at the site.

On Tuesday, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy was identified as the alleged assailant in a February stabbing attack at a market in the Bedouin town of Rahat in which a 65-year-old grandmother was stabbed in the neck.

The alleged assailant was arrested after a four-day manhunt, the Israel Police and Shin Bet said. When caught at his home in the Hebron area, he admitted to the crime and led police to where he had hidden the knife used in the attack, according to reports.

The teen had entered Israel illegally and was working at a home in the town at the time of the attack.

Meanwhile, Israel Police arrested two Palestinian men in their 40s from eastern Jerusalem who were caught with homemade pipe bombs and other ammunition hidden in their food stand outside of Herod’s Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem, which is adjacent to the Muslim Quarter.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported that the victim was 23 years old.