Palestinian woman stabs Israeli civilian at Gush Etzion junction

Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli civilian at the main junction in Gush Etzion.

The Israeli stabbed in Monday’s attack was lightly injured. The attacker was shot by Israeli security forces. She was taken to the Hadassah University Medical Center in Ein Kerem where she is in serious condition, the Jerusalem Post reported. She reportedly used a small steak knife as a weapon.

The attacker has been identified as Amal Taqatqa, 22, from Beit Fajjar, a Palestinian village located south of Bethlehem, and near Gush Etzion. The Palestinian Maan news agency reported that the same woman in 2011 tried to stab a soldier at the same junction. Her family said at the time that she was mentally ill, and Israel and the Palestinians coordinated her release to their custody.

Following Monday’s incident, the family home was searched, according to Maan.

The junction is the same place where Israeli Dalia Lemkus was stabbed to death in November, and where a Palestinian man drove his vehicle into three soldiers waiting for rides. It is also the junction from which three Israeli teens were abducted and later killed over the summer.