Jerusalem Stabbing Attack: Police Officer Stabbed With Screwdriver In Old City

A West Bank resident attacked at least two people in a stabbing attack Wednesday in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. The attacker was fatally shot and later died of his wounds.

A 35-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy were lightly wounded. The man was stabbed in the upper boy and it was unclear how the boy, who suffered from head trauma, was injured. The suspect was not named and his motive was unknown, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told local media.

The incident began when the 21-year-old suspect approached some officers standing near the Lions’ Gate in the Old City. He then pulled out a screwdriver and stabbed one of the officers, police said. The other officers fatally shot the attacker. The attack saw police shut down some area businesses and all entrances to the Muslim Quarter.

Stabbing attacks aren't new to Jerusalem. A similar attack unfolded in November when a 16-year-old Palestinian boy was fatally shot by Israeli security forces after he tried to stab them while they guarded a roadblock in East Jerusalem. A Palestinian from the West Bank was shot dead after another November stabbing attack aimed at a security guard at Qalandiya checkpoint. Before that, there was a series of Palestinian stabbing attacks earlier this year that saw several stabbings a day. More than 30 Israelis and two American visitors were killed in the attacks since October 2015.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official, has said Israel was carrying out "extra-judicial killings" of the attackers. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security officials in the past year who were accused of attacking or intending to do so.

"Israel is flagrantly employing a systematic and willful policy of summary executions against the Palestinian people; such provocative acts are in direct violation of international law and conventions," Ashrawi said. "We call on the international community to engage rapidly and effectively before it is too late."

Israel claimed Jerusalem's Old City and nearby areas, as well as the West Bank, from Jordan in a 1967 war.