Israel says attacker of pregnant woman shot
Woman, who was five months pregnant, moderately wounded in alleged stabbing by Palestinian man in illegal settlement.
Israeli officials say a Palestinian attacker has been shot after stabbing and wounding a pregnant Israeli woman in the occupied West Bank.
The attacker entered the Tekoa settlement and stabbed the 30-year-old woman on Monday before being shot by the settlement’s head of security, the Israeli military said.
All Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land are considered illegal under international law.
The attacker’s condition was not immediately known.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the Palestinian citizen had been critically injured and was being treated in hospital, denying earlier reports of his death.
Shoham Ruvio, a spokesperson for Jerusalem’s Shaarei Tzedek hospital, said the woman, who was five-months pregnant, was moderately wounded after being stabbed in the upper body.
There was no damage caused to the foetus, Ruvio said, identifying the woman as Michal Froman.
She is the daughter-in-law of a late settler rabbi known to promote coexistence between Arabs and Jews, according to Ruvio.
Eli Bin, the head of Israel’s rescue service MDA, had earlier told Israeli Channel 10 TV that the woman was seriously wounded.
The past four months have seen almost daily alleged attacks by, and killings of, Palestinians by the Israeli military.
Since October 1, at least 160 Palestinians and 25 Israelis have been killed in the violence.
Overall in 2015, Israeli soldiers or settlers shot and killed 180 Palestinians, including unarmed protesters, bystanders and alleged attackers.
Protests surged in frequency in September as right-wing Israeli settlers carried out incursions into the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site for Muslims.
Unrest has since spread throughout the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and Palestinian communities in Israel.