One Palestinian was killed and one critically injured by Israeli police in Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem, on Thursday after an alleged stabbing attack, Israeli media and police said.
The Palestinian who was shot and killed has been identified as Mahmoud Khalid Ghneimat, from Surief near Hebron, while the Palestinian who was critically injured has been identified as Miqdad al-Heeh, the Palestinians Prisoners’ Society said on Thursday evening.
An Israeli police spokesperson told Ma’an that the two Palestinians attempted to board a children’s bus in the city but were blocked from entering, before stabbing an Israeli man in his twenties. Israeli police arrived on scene and shot the suspected attackers.
The two men, along with the Israeli, were transferred to Hadassah hospital in Ein Karem.
Israeli media reported that one of the suspected attackers was dead upon arrival to the hospital, the other left in critical condition. The Israeli man sustained moderate injuries in his upper body.
The area of the attack was closed off following the incident and police are currently looking into the identity of the suspected attackers.
Hebrew-language news sites gave contradicting narratives of Thursday’s alleged stabbing as the incident unfolded.
Religious Zionist website, Arutz Sheva, mirrored the account of statements by Israeli police, while Israeli news site Ynet initially suggested that the two Palestinians had tried to enter a synagogue and stab Jewish worshipers, but were first shot by Israeli police after stabbing an Israeli in the street.
A third Israeli site, Hebrew language NRG, quoted an eyewitness saying that he had started to follow the two suspects when a young Israeli woman he was with called the police and notified them of two “terrorists.”
According to the eyewitness, police officers arrived to the scene 20 minutes after the alleged attack, contradicting reports that the suspects were shot immediately after the stabbing.
Images shown by Ynet and NRG also prove contradictory, portraying different knives said to have been used by the attackers. While both images include a black knife, the knife in the photo provided by the Israeli police is different from the other photo passing through Israeli media.
– Read more: A Palestinian Killed, Another Injured after Alleged Attack in Beit Shemesh – Ma’an
