A strictly-Orthodox man was stabbed at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate on Saturday by a Palestinian assailant who was shot dead by police. 

Israeli Police said on Saturday that the victim was wounded and “evacuated for medical care in a moderate to severe condition.”

The victim - identified by Israeli media as  21-year-old Avraham Elimelich - said he went praying at the Kotel that day.

He recalled that the attacker had “tried to stab me everywhere on my body.” 

Then, “the soldier that got there separated us, and then the terrorist went to stab him, and they killed him,” he told the Times of Israel from his hospital bed.

Israeli media also named the attacker as 25-year-old Muhammad Shaukat Muhammad Salima and reported that he was arrested in 2019 for incitement to violence.

Footage of the incident released on Twitter by Israeli Police showed an assailant attacking a man before running towards officers and falling to the ground. 

Local and international news outlets reported that another clip of the incident appeared to show officers firing at the man twice after he had dropped to the ground.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Saturday he extended his “full backing” to Israeli police saying officers had taken the “quick and determined action” expected of them.

“This is how our officers are expected to act and this is how they acted. We cannot allow our capital city to become a focal point of terrorism,” he said.