An Israeli man, 45, was murdered in a terrorist stabbing on Sunday near the Gush Etzion junction, south of Jerusalem. The victim managed to shoot his assailant, a 17-year-old Palestinian, before collapsing.
The victim, who was stabbed in the back, was treated at the scene and then evacuated under sedation to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where he later succumbed to his wounds.
The victim was identified as 45-year-old Ari Fuld, a father of four from the settlement of Efrat. He was a prominent figure in Israeli public diplomacy efforts in English and managed a blog defending Israel from the delegitimization efforts of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
The assailant, identified as Youssef Ali Jabarin from the city of Yatta near Hebron, was also taken to hospital in stable condition and fully conscious.
G., who witnessed the attack, said, "Suddenly, outside the restaurant, I heard shouts of 'Terrorist attack! Terrorist attack!' I saw the terrorist stabbing [the man], I saw him wounded. I started running after the attacker. Before he could get to where people were standing, the stabbing victim shot at him and one bullet hit him. Good for him!"
G. said that the man collapsed after firing the shot.
Magen David Adom paramedic Hagla Erez said she was shopping in the area when she heard shouting and the sound of shots fired.
"I started running to the scene and saw a man about 40 lying on the ground, unconscious, with stab wounds in the upper body. I administered first aid, including stopping the bleeding, and called the incident into Magen David Adom. Together with other MDA teams and IDF medical personnel, we kept up the first aid, and the man was transported to the hospital in critical condition."
Head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council Shlomo Naaman was called to the scene of the attack and briefed on the victim's condition.
"We were enjoying a holiday atmosphere, and in one second [it became] an atmosphere of war for this country. We will fight this war with all the means at our disposal, including the expansion of settlements," Naaman said.
"We also expect the IDF and the government to do everything in their power to prevent incidents like these," he continued. "We had a welcome period of calm, but our enemies aren't giving up and we won't, either. They need to choose – do they want to live with us here and behave like human beings, or do they want to behave like animals? If they choose the latter, they will pay the price," Naaman warned.
Haaretz reported that Jabarin's parents contacted the Palestinian security apparatus on Sunday morning, prior to the stabbing attack, and warned them that he was planning to carry out a terrorist attack.
