Woman, 19, stabbed, seriously wounded by terrorist in Ramle, police say

A 19-year-old woman was seriously wounded in a suspected terror stabbing attack in the central city of Ramle on Friday, police and medics said.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said they took the young woman to the nearby Shamir Medical Center where she was undergoing treatment.

Police said the stabber was shot, and MDA confirmed that he had been killed.

Police were investigating the Ramle stabbing as a suspected terror attack, Avi Bitton, the Israel Police central district chief, confirmed at the scene of the attack.

He also noted, however, that the assailant was “mentally unstable.”

Bitton said the attacker stabbed the victim several times in the back before fleeing the scene.

The attacker was chased by friends and relatives of the victim for about a kilometer to a second location where he attempted to stab another woman, Bitton said.

He was then shot dead by one of those pursuing him, who was carrying a licensed weapon, said Bitton.

According to Ynet, the victim is not a resident of the city and was stabbed while visiting her family. The hospital told media that she was transferred to its trauma center and that her condition was serious but stable.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir arrived at the scene shortly after the incident and congratulated the civilian who had shot the stabber, telling him that he was a hero.

Speaking to the press at the scene, Ben Gvir said the civilian had been granted his gun permit four months ago as part of the minister’s policy to arm the public, under which the National Security Ministry has granted more than 110,000 permits since October.

According to Ynet, Ben Gvir acknowledged that Israel was suffering from a shortage of police officers, but said that this “doesn’t matter at all as long as civilians have guns.”

Ben Gvir said the incident was further proof that his policy saves lives.

He also called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give the go-ahead for the Israel Defense Forces to begin an operation in Rafah as the next stage in the Israel-Hamas war, which erupted on October 7, 2023, with the terrorist organization’s attack that saw 1,200 people, mostly civilians, murdered and 253 taken hostage.

The minister also repeated a call for the death penalty for terrorists, which he has been urging for years, saying that the October 7 terrorists deserved no less than a “bullet to their heads.”

As he was leaving the scene, Ben Gvir’s car was involved in an accident and flipped over, police said.

Ben Gvir’s office said the minister was in good condition and conscious but was being taken to the nearby Shamir Medical Center for further treatment.

Video from the scene showed the accident happened after Ben Gvir’s car ran a red light and was hit by an oncoming vehicle.