Terror attack: Off-duty IDF soldier killed, another seriously wounded after stabbing attack in northern town of Karmiel
Suspect was shot and killed at the scene of attack
An off-duty Israeli soldier was killed and another seriously wounded when a terrorist stabbed them in the town of Karmiel in northern Israel on Wednesday, Israeli media reported.
The attacker was shot and killed at the scene, which took place at a shopping center in the town situated between the Upper and Lower Galilee regions.
The victim was identified as Sgt. Aleksandr Iakiminskyi (19), who served as truck driver in the 188th Armored Brigade’s 71st Battalion. The other soldier who was wounded served in the same battalion as Iakiminskyi.
The terrorist was later identified as Jawwad Omar Rubia, a resident of the nearby Arab village of Nahaf. According to the police, he was killed by Iakiminskyi, who managed to shoot him despite suffering from deadly wounds.
The police confirmed the stabbing was a terror attack, after initially probing whether the suspect had a criminal background.
According to Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue services, two men around the age of 20 were evacuated to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, with one being in critical and the other being in serious condition.
Another person at the scene was treated for shock.
MDA emergency medic Ran Moskovitz said, “When I arrived at the shopping center, they directed me to the second floor. I saw two wounded, young men, lying on the spot with stab wounds near the stalls, with one of them unconscious.”
“We started with medical treatment that included stopping bleeding and dressings and performing resuscitation operations on the unconscious wounded. While receiving medical treatment, we put them in an intensive care vehicle and evacuated them to the hospital.”
Large police forces under the command of the northern sector commander, Shuki Tahauko, arrived at the scene to collect findings at the scene, identify the terrorist, and rule out the possibility that there were accomplices.
"Naturally, we are very familiar with attacks of this type, and we must rule out the possibility that there are additional aides or terrorists in the vicinity," a police spokesman said.
"There is wild incitement to terrorism on social media. At the same time, together with the Shin Bet and the IDF, we thwart many terrorist infrastructures and prevent many terrorist attacks, of course with the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Police," he added.
Despite the large Arab population in the Galilee region, terror attacks are relatively rare in the area.
Among the local Bedouin population, some even enlist in the IDF or Israel Police.
District Police Commander Tahauko, who grew up in a village in northern Israel, comes from a Circassian background, a Muslim minority in Israel.
The mayor of Karmiel, Moshe Koninski, told KAN News: “Unfortunately, we are experiencing such an event for the first time… It is an old shopping center that is used by most of the area. I hear a lot of speculation about the identity of the [assailant], but we will let the police complete their investigation.”
“I really hope it’s not a resident of the area,” he added. “There are weeds everywhere, among Jews and Arabs alike.”
The mayor of Nahaf, mayor Muhammad Zuri, later condemned the attack, emphasizing the good relations his town had long enjoyed with its neighboring Jewish communities.
“I hope this won’t spoil those relations. There is outrage in the village over this incident, and we hope it will remain an isolated one,” Zuri stated.
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The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
