2 Israeli Teens Injured in Car-Ramming and Stabbing Attack Near Bethlehem
Two Israeli teenagers were wounded Tuesday in a combined ramming and stabbing assault at the al-Khader junction in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem. The attacker, identified in Palestinian media as 32-year-old Mahdi Muhammad Awad Dirieh of Beit Fajjar, was shot dead at the scene.
The incident unfolded around midday when Dirieh drove his vehicle toward civilians waiting by the roadside. Two boys, ages 15 and 16, were struck and thrown to the ground. The assailant then left his car armed with a knife and moved toward the victims. A passing off-duty senior reservist officer opened fire, killing him before he could carry out further attacks.
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Emergency teams quickly arrived to treat the wounded. “A boy of about 15 was lying in a hazy state, and the other boy was fully conscious. Both suffered injuries to their heads and limbs,” Magen David Adom paramedic Eli Eisenbach told the Jerusalem Post. The 15-year-old was taken to Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem in moderate to serious condition. The 16-year-old was admitted to Hadassah Ein Kerem with lighter injuries and was reported to be fully conscious. Both hospitals later described the teens as being in moderate condition.
Surveillance camera footage released after the attack shows the car plowing into the teenagers and then, from another angle, the off-duty officer firing at the assailant.
The IDF said forces were dispatched immediately to secure the site. “A terrorist who carried out a car-ramming attack and attempted stabbings was neutralized,” the army stated. Soldiers set up roadblocks and cordoned off surrounding villages while conducting searches to rule out additional accomplices. Entrances and exits to nearby areas were temporarily closed during the sweep.
Commanders from the West Bank Division held a situational assessment on-site as security forces worked to restore calm. The swift intervention by the reservist officer and the medical teams prevented what officials said could have been a far more serious outcome.
