Israel
British woman stabbed to death on Jerusalem tram
The victim, a woman in her 20s who is not yet identified, is believed to have been a student visiting Israel
April 14, 2017 11:18
The victim, a woman in her 20s who is not yet identified, is believed to have been a student visiting Israel
April 14, 2017 11:18A young British woman has been stabbed to death in an attack on Jerusalem’s light rail system.
The woman, who has not yet been identified, is said to be in her 20s and believed to be a student visiting Israel as a tourist.
The attack — in which two other people, one a pregnant woman, were lightly wounded — was said to have been carried out by a 57-year-old east Jerusalem resident who police say suffers from mental problems.
The man was arrested at the scene and paramedics from Magen David Adom carried out CPR on the young woman, who had been stabbed numerous times in her upper body.
#MDA teams also treated 30 y/o pregnant woman and 50 y/o man who were injured during the incident pic.twitter.com/xmfBUy78P1
— Magen David Adom (@Mdais) April 14, 2017
The woman died of her wounds shortly after arriving at Hadassah Hospital.
The assailant has been named by the Shin Bet as Jamil Tamimi, 57, from the Ras al-Amoud neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.
This knife was used by terrorist who murdered a young woman in Jerusalem this afternoon. The terrorist was arrested by police at the scene. pic.twitter.com/eXOVMZru3a
— Israel Foreign Min. (@IsraelMFA) April 14, 2017
The Shin Bet said that earlier this year, Tamimi had tried to commit suicide by swallowing a razor blade. In 2011 he had been found guilty of sexually abusing his daughter.
The Shin Bet spokesman said: “This is another case, out of many, where a Palestinian who is suffering from personal, mental or moral issues chooses to carry out a terror attack in order to find a way out of their problems”.
President Reuven Rivlin issued a statement: “The bitter news of the young woman’s death in a terror attack in Jerusalem fills me with deep sorrow.”
Security forces have been on high alert over the Passover and Easter holidays when hundreds of thousands of people visit Jerusalem, and around 1,500 police officers from elsewhere in Israel have been deployed in the city for the duration of the holy days.
The attack occurred near IDF Square in the capital, along Jaffa Road, close to the walls of the Old City.
MDA EMT Zeevi Hanfling "Police officers led me into the train where a young girl was lying unconscious W stab wounds 2 her upper body part."
— Magen David Adom (@Mdais) April 14, 2017
