An Israeli security guard was stabbed by a Palestinian in Jerusalem Sunday in what local authorities are calling a terror attack.
The unidentified officer was knifed in the chest near the entrance to the city’s central bus station, reports Haaretz newspaper. He’s in critical condition, and is currently being treated at a nearby hospital.
The knife-wielding man, a 24-year-old who lives in the West Bank, was apprehended after he was tackled by a bystander, local police said.
Israeli media have identified the accused attacker as Yassin Abu al-Qarah, who wrote “our blood is devoted” to the holy city on Facebook mere days ago. Other social media users have commented on his page, calling him a hero.
Jerusalem has been on tenterhooks since President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Wednesday.
In the days since, violence has erupted across the region.
Four Palestinians were killed on Friday and 98 wounded as factions clashed around the West Bank and the Gaza strip.
Meanwhile, the US on Sunday called out Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for refusing to meet with Vice President Mike Pence when he visits the region later this month.
“It’s unfortunate that the Palestinian Authority is walking away again from an opportunity to discuss the future of the region,” said Jarrod Agen, Pence’s deputy chief of staff, in a statement.
Abbas is slotted to meet Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday in Cairo “to discuss developments related to the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,” said Bassam Radi, a spokesman for the Egyptian presidency.
On Sunday, additional protests were held across Lebanon, Indonesia, Egypt and Morocco, as well as in the Palestinian territories.
Lebanese security forces fired tear gas and water cannons at hundreds of demonstrators near the American embassy. The protesters burned an effigy of Trump, in addition to US and Israeli flags and piles of garbage.
Lebanon houses some 450,000 Palestinian refugees, who make up almost 10 percent of the country’s population.
With Wires